AFRICAN 

ADVENTURE 

STORIES 


J.  ALDEN  LORING 

FIELD  NATURALIST 
TO    THE 

ROOSEVELT  AFRICAN  EXPEDITION 


LIBRARY  ^1 

UNIVERSI  jy  OF  I 

CALIFOWMA  I 

SAN  DIEOO  ] 


VG^^^/C. 


AFRICAN  ADVENTURE  STORIES 


Digitized  by  tine  Internet  Arciiive 

in  2007  witii  funding  from 

IVIicrosoft  Corporation 


littp://www.arcliive.org/details/africanadventureOOIoriiala 


AFRICAN 
ADVENTURE   STORIES 


BY 

J.  ALDEN  LORING 

FnBlO  NATURALIST   TO   THE   ROOSEVELT   AFRICAN   EXPEDITION 
BfEMBEB  OF   THE   CAMP-FIRE   CLUB   OF   AMERICA 


WITH  A  FOREWORD  BY 

THEODORE  ROOSEVELT 


ILLUSTRATED 


NEW  YORK 

CHARLES  SCRIBNER'S  SONS 

1914 


COPTBIOHT,   1914,   BT 

CHARLES  SCRIBNBR'S  SONS 


Published  September,  1914 


FOREWORD 

The  author  of  this  little  volume,  Mr.  J.  Alden 
Loring,  is  one  of  the  three  field  naturalists  who 
accompanied  me  during  the  eleven  months  that 
I  spent  in  Africa,  at  the  head  of  a  scientific  ex- 
pedition sent  out  by  the  Smithsonian  Institution. 
In  the  following  pages  Mr.  Loring  has  chronicled 
many  of  the  experiences  that  befell  the  expedi- 
tion and  its  members,  while  some  of  the  chap- 
ters are  devoted  to  the  experiences  of  trust- 
worthy travellers  and  big-game  hunters  whom 
we  met.  What  he  describes  as  fact  may  unhes- 
itatingly be  accepted  as  such;  and  in  the  pref- 
ace he  clearly  differentiates  between  the  experi- 
ences in  which  he  records  fact,  and  those  in 
which  he  tells  stories  merely  founded  on  fact. 

Theodore  Roosevelt. 

Oyster  Bat,  N.  Y., 

September  19,  1913. 


PREFACE 

Because  of  its  dangerous  animals,  and  in 
some  localities,  its  dangerous  natives,  Africa  is 
probably  the  most  lucrative  country  from  which 
to  gather  material  for  a  book  of  this  character. 

From  the  time  that  we  boarded  the  S.  S.  Ad- 
miraU  bound  for  Mombasa,  we  met  English  offi- 
cers and  settlers  returning  to  their  respective 
posts  or  homes,  who  rehearsed  exciting  experi- 
ences that  at  once  convinced  us  that  it  would 
be  impossible  to  live  long  in  Africa  without 
having  at  least  one  thrilling  adventure. 

The  majority  of  these  stories  are  literally 
true.  They  are  the  experiences  of  the  various 
members  of  our  party  and  of  those  of  gentle- 
men we  met,  whose  word  cannot  be  doubted. 
The  same  can  be  said  of  the  articles  relating  to 
the  habits  of  the  animals.  The  last  seven  chap- 
ters should  not  be  accepted  as  actual  fact.  They 
are  so  far  based  on  fact,  however,  that  they  are 
not  improbable. 

vii 


viii  PREFACE 

To  the  publishers  of  the  following  magazines, 
in  which  these  stories  have  previously  appeared, 
my  thanks  are  due  for  the  privilege  of  republish- 
ing them  in  this  form:  Outing  Magazine,  Out- 
door Life,  Outdoor  World  and  Recreation,  The 
American  Boy,  Boys'  Life,  St.  Nicholas  Maga- 
ziney  and  The  Youth's  Companion. 

J.  Alden  Loring. 

OWEGO,  N.  Y., 

March  5,  1914. 


CONTENTS 


CHAPl'iiUt 

I 

A   NARROW    ESCAPE    FROM    AFRICAN 
BLACKS 

PAOS 

r 

3 

II 

LIONS 

16 

III 

FIGHTING  AN  AFRICAN  GRASS-FIRE 

34 

IV 

MY   FIRST   LION          .            .           .           . 

47 

V 

THE    WAYS    OF    THE    AFRICAN    ELE- 
PHANT         

59 

VI 

CHASED   BY  AN   OSTRICH 

80 

VII 

MAULED   BY  AN   ELEPHANT 

89 

VIII 

"jacking"  animals 

.     101 

IX 

A   FATAL  ENCOUNTER  WITH   LIONS 

.     113 

X 

CROCODILES        .... 

.     126 

XI 

A   BATTLE   WITH   A   TORRENT    . 

.     138 

XII 

HIPPOS       

.     152 

XIII 

INTERESTING  AFRICAN   REPTILES 

.     170 

XIV 

A   FIGHT   WITH   HIPPOS      . 

.     184 

XV 

WILD   ANIMALS   THAT   I   HAVE   "et' 

196 

IX 


X  CONTENTS 

CHAPTIEB  PAGE 

XVI  A   RACE   WITH  A   RHINO  .             .  .212 

XVII  IMPRISONED   BY  A   COBRA           .  .      223 

XVIII  TREED   BY  AN   ELEPHANT            .  .      232 

XIX  SNOW-BLIND   ON   MOUNT   KENIA  .      250 

XX  CAPTURED   BY   AFRICAN   SAVAGES  .      264 

XXI  CORNERED   BY   BABOONS               .  .      278 

XXII  A   FIGHT   WITH   FIVE   LIONS       .  .291 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


I   FIRED   POINTBLANK   INTO   HEK   BREAST     .  .  FrOUtispiece 

FACING    PAGE 

He  had  wrecked  several  grass  huts  ....      60 

The  grass  parted  as  though  a  snow-plough  webb 

being  driven  through  it 96 

The  canoe  was  lifted  high  into  the  air   .        .        .     188 

It  worked  its  triple  set  of  fangs  backward  and  for- 
ward IN  A  VAIN  EFFORT  TO  BURY  THEM  IN  MY  HAND      230 

Groping  along  and  feeling  out  each  frozen  foot- 
print   258 

His  guards  boitnd  his  hands  and  feet        .        .        .    270 

The  whip-lash  all  but  cut  him  in  the  face     .        .    298 


AFRICAN  ADVENTURE  STORIES 


AFRICAN  ADVENTURE  STORIES 
CHAPTER  I 

A    NARROW    ESCAPE    FROM    AFRICAN    BLACKS 

FROM  childhood  the  ambition  of  Mr.  S. 
had  been  to  become  an  adventurer. 
Before  he  had  attained  manhood  he  left 
England  to  cast  his  lot  with  that  sturdy,  cou- 
rageous class  of  men  who  make  a  business  of 
trading  with  the  natives  and  hunting  elephants 
in  Africa.  At  the  time  that  I  met  him  he  had 
spent  most  of  his  life  in  South  Africa,  and  a  more 
interesting  person  I  have  never  seen. 

He  was  a  man  of  few  words,  quiet  and  un- 
assuming. While  he  undoubtedly  knew  more 
about  the  African  animals  than  any  living  man, 
I  never  heard  him  contradict  a  fellow  sports- 
man. When  told  of  some  extraordinary  expe- 
rience that  seemed  questionable,  and  asked  to 
express  his  opinion,  he  always  began  by  saying: 
"My  experience  has  been  ..." 


4     AFRICAN  ADVENTURE  STORIES 

Even  in  the  days  in  which  he  visited  Africa, 
ivory  hunters  were  so  numerous  that  the  large 
"tuskers"  were  soon  killed  out  of  the  regions 
where  the  natives  had  been  pacified.  This 
made  it  necessary  for  the  intrepid  hunters  to 
seek  new  and  inhospitable  fields  if  they  intended 
to  succeed.  S.  was  one  of  the  few  men  who  was 
wilhng  to  endure  the  hardships  and  accom- 
panying dangers  of  such  a  trip. 

He  was  a  passenger  on  the  Admiral,  that  car- 
ried the  Roosevelt  African  expedition  from  Na- 
ples to  Mombasa,  and  we  whiled  away  many  a 
pleasant  hour  Kstening  to  his  thrilhng  experi- 
ences. 

He  started  once,  he  said,  with  about  twenty- 
five  Kafir  boys  to  carry  his  outfit  and  trade 
goods,  on  a  trip  into  the  then  little-known  re- 
gion north  of  the  Zambesi  River.  Elephants,  it 
was  beheved,  had  been  little  molested  in  that 
section  and  the  chances  were  good  for  finding 
big  "tuskers." 

His  objective  point  was  somewhat  of  a  ques- 
tion. He  was  after  ivory  and  intended  to  rely 
more  or  less  on  the  information  he  could  gather 
from  the  tribes  he  met.  Finally,  he  began  to 
pass  out  of  the  region  of  friendly  natives  and  to 


A  NARROW  ESCAPE  5 

draw  near  the  line  which  in  our  country  is 
known  as  the  "frontier."  Here  the  hunter  was 
warned  of  treacherous  people  ahead,  but,  as  the 
natives  are  naturally  alarmists  and  Hve  in  con- 
stant fear  of  attacks  from  each  other,  he  placed 
little  credence  in  the  report.  S.  always  carried 
a  supply  of  trade  goods,  and  believed  that  he 
would  have  no  trouble  after  he  had  presented 
the  various  chiefs  with  presents  and  they  found 
that  he  had  come  to  barter  with  them. 

Each  day's  travel  brought  the  party  in  con- 
tact with  strange  tribes,  who  spoke  unknown 
tongues  and  from  their  actions  showed  that  they 
had  never  before  seen  a  white  man.  As  the 
caravan  drew  near  a  village  the  people  fled  in 
terror  and  stood  off  at  a  distance  watching 
and  jabbering  in  their  peculiar  language.  The 
women  and  children  were  particularly  timid  and 
refused  to  enter  the  camp  until  the  confidence 
of  the  men  had  been  won. 

With  trifling  gifts  they  were  finally  coaxed 
near,  and  soon  they  lost  their  fear  and  became 
sociable.  They  always  carried  their  long,  dan- 
gerous-looking spears,  however,  which  looked 
auspicious.  Never,  after  winning  the  confidence 
of  a  tribe  of  savages,  had  S.  known  them  to  re- 


6     AFRICAN  ADVENTURE  STORIES 

tain  their  arms.  He  laid  this  exception  to  the 
fact  that  these  people  were  ignorant  of  the  white 
man's  ways,  and  deemed  it  prudent  to  be  always 
prepared  until  they  knew  more  of  him. 

One  afternoon  the  traveller  came  to  a  chief's 
village  and,  after  paying  his  respects  to  the 
potentate,  made  camp  near  by,  enclosing  it  in 
an  elephant-grass  stockade. 

When  everything  was  settled  the  chief  sent 
his  visitor  vegetables  and  native  beer,  and  the 
guest  reciprocated  with  calico,  beads,  and  salt. 
Then  he  asked  the  chief  to  ferry  his  outfit  across 
a  near-by  stream  in  the  morning,  as  the  caravan 
wished  to  proceed  on  its  way  without  delay. 
The  old  fellow  seemed  willing,  but  said  as  his 
canoe  was  not  then  at  the  village  he  could  not 
acquiesce  until  he  had  sent  for  it,  which  would 
take  a  day  at  least.  In  the  meantime  he  wished 
the  hunter  to  shoot  some  game  for  his  people, 
promising  to  furnish  a  guide  and  helpers  to  bring 
in  the  dead  animals. 

The  following  day  several  head  of  game  were 
killed  and  most  of  the  meat  was  turned  over  to 
the  villagers,  S.  saving  enough  for  himself  and 
his  men. 

As  on  the  previous  day,  the  natives  gathered 


A  NARROW  ESCAPE  7 

at  the  camp,  traded  vegetables  with  the  porters, 
and  seemed  to  be  on  the  most  friendly  and  so- 
ciable terms.  As  the  afternoon  wore  on  they 
began  to  disperse  and  by  supper  time  not  a  per- 
son was  left;  they  had  disappeared  as  though  by 
magic.  They  did  not  return  in  the  evening, 
either,  which  was  most  unusual,  for  an  African 
native  is  more  nocturnal  than  he  is  diurnal. 
While  revolving  the  incidents  of  the  day  in  his 
mind,  the  white  man  remembered  that  there 
were  fewer  women  about  the  camp  that  after- 
noon than  there  had  been  on  the  previous  day, 
which  also  looked  suspicious.  His  porters,  too, 
seemed  alarmed.  They  sat  by  their  camp-fires 
talking  in  undertones,  and  always  carried  their 
spears  or  left  them  lying  on  the  ground  by  their 
sides,  as  though  expecting  an  attack  at  any 
moment. 

The  anxious  hunter  went  to  his  tent  early 
that  evening,  and  as  he  lay  on  his  cot  he  won- 
dered if,  after  all,  the  chief  were  playing  a 
treacherous  game  and  bestowing  gifts  simply  to 
allay  suspicion.  He  was  so  uneasy  that  he  re- 
moved only  his  shoes  and  put  his  rifle  and 
cartridge-belt  close  at  hand. 

Through  the  open  tent  front  he  watched  his 


8     AFRICAN  ADVENTURE  STORIES 

porters,  one  by  one,  roll  up  in  their  blankets  by 
the  dying  embers  of  their  camp-fires.  Contrary 
to  the  invariable  rule  so  early  in  the  evening,  not 
a  sound  came  from  the  village.  It  was  so  quiet 
one  could  almost  hear  oneself  think,  and,  true 
to  the  old  saying,  it  proved  to  be  "the  calm 
before  the  storm." 

Suddenly  a  man  slipped  into  the  enclosure  and 
skulked  toward  the  fire  where  two  of  the  ser- 
vants were  sleeping.  S.  sprang  from  the  cot, 
snatched  the  rifle,  and  levelled  it  at  the  fellow, 
but  at  the  same  instant  saw  that  the  black  was 
unarmed.  He  watched  the  native  lean  over  and 
shake  the  slumbering  boys,  and  then  the  three 
entered  into  conversation.  The  hunter  heard 
one  of  them  say: 

"We  had  better  tell  our  master  at  once!" 

"What  is  it,  Charley.?"  he  asked. 

The  caller  proved  to  be  a  boy  who  had  been 
hunting  with  them  that  morning  and  had  been 
given  a  liberal  supply  of  meat.  He  had  come 
to  inform  his  friends  that  the  women  had  all 
been  sent  from  the  village  and  he  feared  there 
was  going  to  be  an  attack. 

If  this  were  true  there  could  be  but  one  in- 
terpretation: the  chief  meant  mischief.     Step- 


A  NARROW  ESCAPE  9 

ping  back  into  the  tent,  S.  slipped  into  his 
shoes,  buckled  on  his  cartridge-belt,  and,  picking 
up  his  rifle,  ordered  the  men  to  put  out  the  fires, 
which  they  did  by  throwing  dirt  on  them.  The 
camp  was  dark. 

He  was  standing  before  the  tent  talking  with 
the  men,  when  without  the  slightest  warning  the 
flashes  of  several  guns  burst  through  the  grass 
fence.  At  the  same  time  a  shower  of  spears  fell 
into  the  stockade  and  some  must  have  struck 
the  porters. 

A  moment  later  the  savages  broke  through 
the  enclosure  and,  howling  like  demons,  rushed 
upon  the  party.  They  outnumbered  the  white 
men  ten  to  one,  and  it  would  have  been  mad- 
ness to  attempt  to  resist  them.  S.  shouted  to 
his  boys  to  flee  for  their  lives  and,  turning  ran 
toward  the  back  of  the  "kraal." 

On  reaching  it  he  broke  through  and  started 
for  a  thicket.  Suddenly  he  tripped  and  fell 
and  two  men  stumbled  over  him.  They  might 
have  been  some  of  his  own  party  escaping,  but 
if  they  were  savages  they  must  have  thought 
that  he  had  fallen  from  a  wound,  so  they  kept 
on  after  other  victims. 

The  hunter  scrambled  to  his  feet,  still  clinging 


10    AFRICAN  ADVENTURE  STORIES 

to  his  rifle,  and  made  for  the  ford  of  a  s.tream 
that  he  had  crossed  when  entering  the  village. 
He  realised  that  his  only  hope  of  escape  from 
the  country  would  be  to  travel  south  toward  the 
Zambesi,  some  five  hundred  miles  away.  Draw- 
ing near  the  ford,  the  outcast  was  warned  of 
danger  by  hearing  voices;  the  crafty  old  chief 
had  planned  his  attack  well.  Knowing  that  the 
ford  was  the  most  likely  route  his  victims  would 
take,  should  any  succeed  in  escaping  the  first 
attack,  he  had  placed  warriors  to  watch  it  and 
cut  down  those  who  came  that  way. 

S.  turned  and  walked  along  the  bank  in  the 
opposite  direction  until  he  came  to  a  deep  pool. 
Here  he  took  off  his  clothes,  made  them  and  his 
rifle  into  a  bundle,  fastened  it  to  his  head,  and 
swam  the  stream.  While  dressing  he  looked 
back  toward  camp.  The  fires  had  been  re- 
kindled, and,  amid  the  din  of  voices,  he  saw  the 
savages  running  hither  and  thither  as  they 
fought  for  possession  of  the  spoils. 

Travelling  southward  all  night,  he  came  to  a 
stream  early  in  the  morning  and,  after  crossing 
it,  lay  down  to  rest  and  sleep.  Suddenly  he  was 
awakened  by  voices  and,  looking  up,  saw  two 
blacks  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  river.     Both 


A  NARROW  ESCAPE  11 

were  armed  with  spears,  one  of  which  they  car- 
ried in  the  right  hand  ready  for  instant  use. 

It  was  an  anxious  few  minutes  for  the  unfor- 
tunate hunter.  He  was  in  plain  sight  and  dared 
not  move  for  fear  of  attracting  their  attention. 
There  he  lay,  expecting  at  any  moment  to  be 
discovered,  and  wondering  if  he  would  have  to 
shoot  them  to  prevent  their  returning  to  the 
village  and  giving  the  alarm.  They  were  so  in- 
tent on  looking  for  his  footprints,  which  they 
had  for  the  time  lost,  that  they  did  not  see  him, 
and  in  their  efforts  to  find  them  passed  out  of 
sight.  S.  then  jumped  to  his  feet  and,  skulking 
through  the  tall  grass,  managed  to  escape  again. 

Late  in  the  afternoon  he  began  to  feel  hungry, 
for  he  had  had  nothing  to  eat  since  the  evening 
before.  Game  was  not  very  abundant,  but  he 
searched  about  for  an  antelope  and  finally  came 
across  one,  a  solitary  old  wildebeest.  After  care- 
fully manoeuvring  he  managed  to  sneak  up  be- 
hind the  only  bush  that  afforded  shelter.  He 
found  that  even  then  he  was  too  far  away  to  risk 
one  of  the  four  cartridges  that  must  last  him 
throughout  the  journey.  He  had  abandoned  all 
hope  of  killing  the  animal  when,  as  though  de- 
liberately wishing  to  sacrifice  itself,  it  walked 


12    AFRICAN  ADVENTURE  STORIES 

slowly  to  within  fifty  yards  of  the  bush,  and  the 
trader  dropped  it  with  a  bullet  through  the  heart. 

Fearing  that  his  shot  might  have  been  heard 
by  his  enemies,  he  quickly  cut  off  some  of  the 
meat  and,  returning  to  the  tall  grass,  travelled 
several  miles  before  he  dared  build  a  fire  and 
cook  a  meal. 

When  he  was  again  ready  to  move  on,  dark- 
ness had  fallen  and  the  chilly,  tropical  night 
seemed  to  penetrate  to  his  bones.  As  nearly  as 
possible  he  followed  the  route  over  which  he  had 
passed  a  few  days  before.  Not  far  ahead  was  a 
village  in  which  he  had  been  hospitably  received. 

He  reached  this  village  about  midnight.  A 
boy  was  sleeping  by  a  smouldering  camp-fire. 
The  hunter's  entrance  awakened  the  lad,  who 
spoke  to  him,  and  their  conversation  roused  two 
of  the  villagers  who  appeared  and  also  engaged 
him  in  conversation. 

Seated  by  the  fire,  his  rifle  lying  on  the 
ground  by  his  side,  the  white  man  was  trying 
to  explain  what  had  happened  to  him  the  night 
before,  when  from  a  near-by  hut  he  caught  the 
sound  of  some  one  loading  a  muzzle-loading  gun. 
Not  wanting  to  appear  alarmed  by  leaving  so 
soon,  he  finished  his  story  as  quickly  as  possible. 


A  NARROW  ESCAPE  13 

and  was  about  to  rise  and  move  on  when  a 
rustle  from  behind  caused  him  to  grab  for  his 
rifle;  but  a  savage  grasped  it  from  under  his 
hands  and  darted  into  the  night. 

At  the  same  instant  one  of  the  natives  threw 
a  bundle  of  grass  on  the  fire.  As  it  blazed  up 
the  hunter  naturally  turned  toward  the  hut  in 
which  he  had  heard  the  gun  being  loaded,  and 
there,  in  the  doorway,  stood  a  man  levelling  a 
rifle  at  him.  S.  snatched  the  piece  of  wilde- 
beest meat  and  fled  from  the  village.  The  man 
did  not  shoot;  he  may  have  been  unfamiliar 
with  firearms  and  have  forgotten  either  to  cap 
or  to  cock  the  gun. 

The  outcast  dashed  out  of  the  village  and 
down  the  trail  as  fast  as  his  legs  could  carry 
him,  but  apparently  was  not  followed.  His 
position  now  was  indeed  perilous,  for  without 
a  rifle  to  kill  meat  he  was  dependent  upon 
the  natives  for  food  as  soon  as  his  supply  was 
exhausted.  Throughout  the  gloomy  night  he 
plodded  along,  tired  and  footsore,  chilled  and 
disheartened.  No  wonder  his  thoughts  reverted 
to  home  and  to  his  men,  some  of  whom  he  knew 
must  not  be  far  away  following  the  same  guide 
that  God,  in  his  almighty  wisdom,  had  placed  in 


14    AFRICAN  ADVENTURE  STORIES 

the  heavens  to  cheer  and  to  guide  such  unfortu- 
nate wretches  as  himself — the  Southern  Cross. 
Where  were  Paul  and  Charley,  his  faithful  gun 
bearer  and  tent  boy?  Were  they  dead  or  alive? 
those  brave  fellows  who  had  shared  his  fate  so 
many  years  and  who  had  borne  with  him  the 
burdens  of  hardship  and  danger  when  other  men 
of  far  more  intelligence  would  have  collapsed  in 
despair. 

By  daybreak  he  had  placed  many  a  mile 
between  himself  and  his  enemies,  so  once  more 
he  built  a  fire,  cooked  the  last  of  his  meat  and 
then  slept  until  dark. 

About  noon  of  the  following  day  he  reached  a 
village  the  chief  of  which  had,  not  many  months 
before,  befriended  a  fellow  elephant  hunter  who, 
like  himself,  had  fallen  a  victim  to  savage 
treachery.  It  was  some  time  before  S.  could 
explain  why  he  was  traveUing  alone  and  without 
a  gun  or  food.  Finally,  he  made  the  chief  under- 
stand. The  old  fellow  was  greatly  alarmed,  and 
said  that  the  traveller  must  move  on  at  once,  for, 
if  discovered,  his  presence  would  surely  get  the 
chief  into  trouble  with  the  tribe  that  had  made 
the  attack,  of  which  he  was  in  great  fear.  The 
black  gave  him  food  and  a  guide,  and  once  more 


A  NARROW  ESCAPE  15 

he  was  cast  out  into  the  wilds  to  shift  for  himself 
as  best  he  could. 

Two  days  later  he  stopped  at  another  village 
and  asked  for  food  and  shelter.  It  was  here 
that  he  learned  that  several  of  his  men  were  be- 
ing sheltered  in  a  village  some  distance  away,  so 
he  set  out  at  once.  On  arriving  he  found  Paul 
and  Charley,  his  two  best  men.  They  had  had 
a  miraculous  escape  but  had  been  able  to  make 
their  way  southward  as  he  had  done,  and  here 
they  were,  again  united. 

For  over  two  weeks  the  party  travelled  to- 
gether, stopping  at  various  villages,  where  they 
were  hospitably  received,  given  food,  and  sent 
on  their  way.  After  a  tiresome  journey  of  over 
five  hundred  miles  they  finally  reached  civilisa- 
tion, bleeding  from  scratches  and  their  clothes 
a  mass  of  rags,  but,  nevertheless,  alive  and 
healthy  and  thankful  for  their  escape. 


CHAPTER  II 

LIONS 

HAVING  had  considerable  experience  in 
hunting  big  game  in  Alaska,  in  north- 
western Canada,  and  in  western  United 
States,  I  joined  the  Roosevelt  African  expedi- 
tion with  the  impression  that  we,  who  were  all 
experienced  hunters  and  properly  armed  with 
modern  firearms,  had  little  to  fear.  And  I  think 
I  am  safe  in  saying  that  our  entire  party  felt 
much  the  same  way.  But  after  we  had  reached 
Africa  and  heard  of  the  number  of  men  who  had 
been  killed  or  mauled  by  lions  and  of  the  won- 
derful vitahty,  quickness,  and  courage  of  these 
beasts,  we  began  to  realise  the  danger. 

The  diflference  between  our  American  "moun- 
tain-lion"— cougar,  panther,  or  puma,  as  it  is 
variously  called — and  the  African  animal  is  so 
great  that  the  name  "lion"  when  applied  to  the 
American  species  is  a  misnomer.  The  cougar 
— the  term  used  by  many  mammalogists — lacks 
courage  and  even  when  wounded  rarely  charges. 

16 


LIONS  17 

Although  I  have  camped  and  hunted  in  all  the 
Western  States  inhabited  by  this  animal,  the 
nearest  I  ever  came  to  seeing  one  was  when  I 
found  the  tracks  where,  the  night  before,  out  of 
curiosity,  one  had  circled  my  camp.  While  this 
statement  undoubtedly  proves  that  I  am  not 
an  authority  on  cougars,  experienced  hunters 
agree  that  the  animal  is  a  coward  and  so  noc- 
turnal in  its  habits  that  rarely  is  one  seen  abroad 
by  day,  unless  it  is  driven  from  its  hiding-place 
with  dogs  and  brought  to  bay. 

The  African  lion,  while  nocturnal  also,  prowls 
about  often  during  the  day,  particularly  in  the 
early  morning  and  late  in  the  afternoon.  Most 
of  its  prey,  however,  is  killed  at  night  and 
after  a  *'kiU"  it  is  very  noisy,  while  the  cougar 
is  rarely  heard.  Two,  three,  and  possibly  five 
cougars  may  sometimes  be  found  together;  but 
African  lions  are  found  in  troops  of  six,  eight, 
ten,  and  even  fifteen  or  eighteen,  although,  of 
course,  they  are  more  commonly  seen  singly  or 
in  pairs. 

Lions  care  little  for  the  heavily  wooded  re- 
gions. Their  natural  habitat  is  the  veldt  coun- 
try, which  corresponds  to  the  prairies  of  our  West, 
the  bush-veldt,  that  might  be  Hkened  to  the  des- 


18    AFRICAN  ADVENTURE  STORIES 

ert  or  chaparral  country  of  southwestern  Texas, 
New  Mexico,  Ariaona,  and  southern  Colorado, 
Nevada,  and  CaHfornia,  or  to  the  open-wooded 
sections  similar  in  a  way  to  the  "cross  timber" 
of  northeastern  Texas,  Oklahoma,  Kansas,  and 
Indian  Territory.  They  do  retreat  to  the  true 
jungle  during  the  day  when  such  tracts  border 
large  areas  of  open  country,  where  they  have 
been  hunting  during  the  night;  but  such  regions 
are  too  dense  for  good  hunting,  and  as  their 
prey  inhabits  the  open  country,  they  are  forced 
to  spend  the  greater  part  of  their  life  on  the 
veldt,  the  bush-veldt,  or  on  the  desert. 

During  the  last  few  hours  of  daylight,  through- 
out the  night,  and  well  into  the  morning — yes, 
through  the  entire  day,  should  it  be  cloudy  or 
rainy — they  may  be  found  abroad.  They  may 
stay  out  later  than  usual  in  hot  weather  should 
they  be  so  unlucky  as  not  to  make  a  "kill" 
before  dawn,  but  as  soon  as  they  have  gorged 
themselves,  or  when  the  sun  becomes  unbearable, 
they  seek  some  place  of  refuge.  This  may  be  a 
solitary  thorn-tree  with  thick  spreading  limbs 
that  reach  to  the  ground,  the  thick  grass  and 
weeds  bordering  a  swamp,  or,  in  fact,  any  kind 
of  thicket  large  enough  to  afford  shelter  and  pro- 


LIONS  19 

tection  from  the  sun.  Here  they  remain  until 
late  in  the  afternoon,  and  it  is  in  such  places  that 
the  hunter  is  most  liable  to  find  them  and  from 
there  with  his  retinue  of  porters  can  drive  them 
into  the  open. 

Lions  were  far  more  numerous  than  we  had 
expected  and  I  well  remember  when  Colonel 
Roosevelt  remarked  to  Sir  Alfred  Pease:  "I  do 
hope  that  I  shall  be  able  to  get  a  lion  or  a 
lioness,  it  makes  no  difference  which."  Yet,  in 
all,  he  and  Kermit  bagged  seventeen,  and  even  I 
— after  a  narrow  escape  from  being  mauled — 
managed  to  kill  one. 

With  the  exception  of  crocodiles,  lions  kill 
more  people  in  Africa  than  all  the  so-called 
dangerous  animals  combined.  There  are  several 
reasons  for  this:  First,  more  sportsmen  hunt 
lions  than  other  dangerous  game.  Second,  they 
are  more  numerous  in  close  proximity  to  man 
than  other  fierce  animals.  Third,  when  wounded 
they  do  not  hesitate  to  charge  and  rarely  turn 
back.  Fourth,  because  some  of  them  acquire 
the  man-eating  habit. 

The  mortahty  among  the  natives  from  man- 
eating  Kons  is,  of  course,  very  great,  but  the 
blacks  alone  are  to  blame.     They  are  a  simple. 


20    AFRICAN  ADVENTURE  STORIES 

child-like  people  who  think  of  peril  only  when  it 
stares  them  in  the  face  and  forget  it  half  an 
hour  later.  They  have  no  newspapers,  it  is  true, 
but  they  know  as  soon  as  a  man-eating  lion 
appears  in  a  vicinity,  and  they  must  appreciate 
the  danger,  yet  they  roam  about  at  night — the 
greatest  danger  time — without  weapons  or  lights. 
They  even  sleep  in  the  open  or,  at  the  best,  in 
low  thorn-brush  enclosures  over  which  a  lion  can 
easily  spring.  A  single  man-eating  lion  has 
been  known  to  kill  more  than  thirty  natives 
within  six  weeks'  or  two  months'  time. 

Few  white  men  are  killed  by  man-eaters,  for 
white  men  seldom  venture  far  from  civiHsation 
without  firearms,  and  when  on  safari — outfit 
and  men — they  sleep  in  tents,  keep  fires  burning 
at  night  and  armed  guards  watching  over  the 
camp. 

In  late  December  I  was  camped  with  a  small 
safari  in  the  Ulucania  Hills,  two  days'  march 
from  Nairobi,  and  one  morning  discovered  two 
strange  Kikuyus  in  camp.  From  the  head  man 
I  learned  that  they  were  members  of  a  party  of 
men  and  women  that  was  on  its  way  to  Nairobi. 
About  midnight  they  had  been  attacked  by  a 
lion  and  had  scattered.     The  two  men  had  wan- 


LIONS  21 

dered  about  for  several  hours  but  finally  saw  our 
camp-fires,  and  came  over  to  stay  until  morn- 
ing. They  did  not  know  at  the  time  whether 
the  Hon  had  killed  any  one,  and  as  we  broke 
camp  and  left  about  four  o'clock  that  morning, 
we  never  heard.  Just  before  daylight  we  heard 
the  hoarse,  guttural  grunts  of  a  lion  back  in  the 
hills  a  half  mile  from  camp,  so  we  supposed  that 
it  must  have  been  successful. 

After  a  man-eater  becomes  known,  the  govern- 
ment usually  closes  the  roads  in  that  section  to 
travellers  and  forbids  the  natives  to  visit  the 
region  until  the  animal  has  been  put  to  death. 
Frequently  there  is  a  white  hunter  in  the  vicin- 
ity who  is  glad  of  the  chance  to  kill  the  brute, 
and  it  is  needless  to  say  that  the  natives  give 
the  hunter  all  the  information  and  assistance 
they  can,  for  the  death  of  a  man-eater  is  received 
by  the  blacks  with  much  joy  and  celebration. 
Very  often  the  game  warden  at  Nairobi  is  called 
upon  to  exterminate  a  man-eater. 

With  a  party  of  natives  he  goes  to  the  scene 
of  the  last  tragedy,  and  if  possible  they  track  the 
brute  to  a  clump  of  bushes  or  tall  grass  to  which 
it  has  gone  after  its  gruesome  meal.  The  patch 
is  half  surrounded  by  the  blacks,  who  march 


22    AFRICAN  ADVENTURE  STORIES 

through,  shouting,  thrashing  the  brush  with 
clubs,  and  throwing  stones  in  advance.  If  the 
lion  is  in  the  cover  it  is  forced  out  at  the  other 
end  and  killed  by  the  waiting  game  warden.  It 
is  a  well-known  fact  that  the  very  same  party 
of  men  whom  a  man-eater  may  have  raided  the 
night  before  can  in  daylight  drive  it  before 
them  like  any  ordinary  lion. 

This  form  of  hon-hunting  was  the  most  suc- 
cessful one  employed  in  Africa  prior  to  Mr.  Paul 
Rainey's  original  method  of  hunting  them  with 
dogs.  In  two  or  three  months  he  killed  sixty- 
three  lions,  and  his  discovery  will  be  the  means  of 
ridding  the  country  of  man-eaters  much  sooner 
than  has  heretofore  been  possible,  and  conse- 
quently it  is  bound  to  cut  down  the  death-rate 
of  natives. 

Although  we  had  several  dogs  on  the  Sotik 
trip,  they  were  continually  running  ahead  and 
scaring  the  animals,  which  deprived  us  of  the 
pleasure  of  watching  them  and  studying  their 
habits,  so  the  colonel  ordered  the  dogs  sent  back. 
Cuninghame  at  first  remonstrated,  arguing  that 
"the  time  might  come  when  they  could  help  us 
out  of  a  nasty  mess,"  but  our  chief  replied  that 
whatever  mess  we  "got  into"  we  would  have  to 


LIONS  23 

"get  out  of"  without  the  help  of  dogs,  so  the 
canines  went  back  that  night.  I  must  say  that 
I  was  glad  when  they  disappeared,  for  only  the 
night  before,  while  we  were  at  dinner,  one  of 
them  had  sneaked  into  my  tent  and  devoured 
three  of  my  specimens.  As  they  were  the  only 
ones  of  their  species  that  I  had,  we  stopped  off  a 
day  on  the  return  trip  and  trapped  more,  and 
were  repaid  by  discovering  that  it  was  a  species 
new  to  science. 

A  common  method  of  hunting  lions  is  to  watch 
at  the  body  of  an  animal  lately  killed.  At  dusk 
the  hunter  secretes  himself  in  a  brush  enclosure, 
or  on  a  platform  built  amid  the  branches  of  a 
near-by  tree,  and  shoots  the  lions  when  they 
return. 

Another  way  of  hunting  lions  is  to  watch  for 
them  with  field-glasses  from  the  top  of  a  hill,  the 
best  time  being  early  in  the  morning  or  late  in 
the  afternoon.  After  one  has  been  "spotted" 
with  the  binoculars  the  sportsman  can  ride  it 
down  on  horseback  and  when  within  shooting 
distance  dismount  and  fire.  If  the  lion  charges 
the  hunter  can  stand  his  ground  and  take  the 
charge,  or  if  he  is  a  little  nervous,  and  doubtful 
of  his  aim  he  has  just  cause  to  remount  his  horse 


24    AFRICAN  ADVENTURE  STORIES 

and  ride  away.  When  the  Hon  gives  up  the 
chase  the  sportsman  can  go  back  and  continue 
the  fight. 

Experienced  EngHsh  hunters  prefer  attacking 
lions  from  a  distance.  Of  course  if  the  ground 
is  such  that  by  standing  off  two  himdred  yards 
or  more  there  is  danger  of  the  animal  escaping, 
they  try  to  get  closer.  But  they  reason  that  the 
farther  away  the  animal  is  the  less  apt  it  will 
be  to  charge  and  if  it  does  charge  there  will  be 
more  time  to  shoot. 

While  it  is  true  that  the  nearer  one  is  to  a 
hon  the  more  Hable  it  is  to  charge,  close  shooting 
has  its  advantages  in  that  one's  aim  is  more 
accurate  and  the  bullets  have  greater  penetra- 
tion. 

A  young  EngUshman  with  whom  we  became 
acquainted  shortly  after  our  arrival  in  Africa 
was,  a  few  months  later,  frightfully  mauled  by  a 
lion.  He  went  hunting  one  afternoon  and  sud- 
denly came  upon  a  fine  maned  lion.  At  about 
one  hundred  yards  he  opened  fire,  and  the  beast 
charged.  The  hunter  emptied  his  first  rifle  and 
snatched  his  second  gun  from  the  gun  bearer 
just  before  the  Hon  reached  him.  This  rifle 
chanced  to  be  of  a  different  make  from  any  the 


LIONS  25 

gun  bearer  had  seen,  and  he  had  neglected  to 
throw  back  the  safety  catch.  Before  the  hunter 
could  rectify  the  mistake  the  lion  bowled  him 
over  and  knocked  the  rifle  from  his  hands.  The 
gun  bearer  snatched  it  up  and  tried  to  fire. 
Then,  with  wonderful  courage  and  presence  of 
mind  for  an  African  native,  he  rushed  to  the 
struggling  pair  and,  holding  the  gun  over  his 
master,  shouted:  "Master,  fix  this  gun;  it  won't 
work!"  The  lion  was  chewing  the  man's  left 
arm,  but  he  managed  to  reach  out  with  his  free 
hand  and  throw  off  the  safety  catch,  and  the 
gun  bearer  shot  the  animal  through  the  head. 

The  EngHshman  was  badly  mauled.  He  was 
in  the  hospital  for  several  weeks  and  nearly 
succumbed  to  blood-poisoning,  but  finally  es- 
caped with  a  few  ugly  scars  and  a  crippled  left 
arm. 

It  is  a  well-known  fact  among  professional  lion- 
hunters  that  the  Honess  is  more  to  be  feared  than 
her  mate.  She  is  far  more  willing  to  charge 
even  though  she  may  not  be  wounded.  When  a 
pair  of  lions  is  found,  the  female,  therefore,  is  the 
one  that  old  lion-hunters  kill  first. 

A  charging  lion  is,  to  my  mind,  the  most  noble 
and  at  the  same  time  the  most  awe-inspiring 


26    AFRICAN  ADVENTURE  STORIES 

sight  imaginable.  Contrary  to  general  belief,  a 
lion  does  not  bound  toward  its  enemy;  it  scoots 
or  glides  along  over  the  ground  with  a  speed  sim- 
ply remarkable  for  an  animal  so  stocky  and  with 
such  short  legs. 

The  true  Uon-hunter  can  always  tell  whether 
a  lion  is  actually  charging  or  is  simply  trying  to 
escape  even  though  it  may  be  coming  toward 
him.  When  trying  to  escape,  a  lion  lopes  along 
in  an  easy  but  not  extremely  rapid  manner.  But 
when  he  gives  his  tail  a  flirt  in  the  air  and  starts 
toward  you  with  his  belly  almost  touching  the 
ground,  his  forefeet  reaching  out  like  those  of  a 
pacing  race-horse,  his  jaws  haK  open,  and,  with 
every  step,  emitting  a  deep,  guttural  growl 
which  strikes  you  in  the  chest  and  goes  right 
on  through,  then  he  is  charging.  Ninety-nine 
times  out  of  a  hundred  he  will  not  stop  unless 
you  kill  him,  so  govern  yourself  accordingly. 

If,  when  you  start  out  lion-hunting,  you  think 
the  time  will  come  when  you  will  have  to  run, 
stay  at  home,  for,  unless  you  have  a  companion 
who  can  help  you  out  of  a  scrape,  should  you 
ever  turn  your  back  on  a  charging  lion,  that's  the 
beginning  of  your  end.  The  best  you  can  hope 
to  do  is  to  postpone  death  for  a  few  seconds  and. 


LIONS  27 

unless  your  rifle  is  empty,  you  had  better  stand 
your  ground  and  fight  to  the  last. 

But  Mr.  Lion  is  not  a  half  bad  fellow,  after 
all.  Unless  he  happens  to  be  a  man-eater,  and 
then  only  at  night  when  he  is  sure  that  you  do 
not  see  him  and  he  knows  that  he  has  the  ad- 
vantage, he  will  not  molest  you  if  you  treat 
him  with  respect. 

Should  you  be  transporting  stock  through  his 
country,  he  may  try  to  raid  your  camp  some 
night,  and,  if  he  is  not  successful  the  first  time 
you  may  find  him  somewhat  persistent.  Some- 
times he  will  depart  after  once  being  fired  at. 
At  other  times  he  may  annoy  you  for  half  the 
night,  and  this  is  particularly  true  if  he  has  a 
few  companions  to  assist  him  in  the  raid. 

A  very  small  percentage  of  the  people  that  are 
mauled  by  lions  in  what  the  English  term  "acci- 
dents"— that  is,  sportsmen  on  whom  the  tables 
have  been  turned — are  killed  outright  or  even  die 
from  the  seriousness  of  their  wounds.  Most  of 
them  succumb  to  blood-poisoning.  Lion  bites 
when  in  the  fleshy  part  of  the  body  are  usually 
deep,  and  the  tissues  of  the  flesh  are  torn  apart 
to  such  an  extent  that  treatment  is  difficult. 
Unless  a  doctor  is  at  hand,  the  worst  form  of 


28    AFRICAN  ADVENTURE  STORIES 

septic  poisoning  appears  in  a  short  time  and  the 
patient  is  doomed.  Our  doctor  attended  three 
cases  of  Hon  mauHngs  within  twelve  hours  after 
the  accidents  happened,  and,  though  he  was  pro- 
vided with  the  proper  medicines  and  instru- 
ments, two  of  the  men  died  from  blood-poisoning. 

Our  safari  was  so  large  and  there  were  always 
so  many  camp-fires  burning  at  night  that  we 
were  not  molested  by  lions.  One  night  the 
askari,  or  native  ex-soldier  who  watched  over 
the  camp  and  kept  the  fires  burning  when  we 
were  in  a  lion  country,  woke  us  by  firing  his 
rifle.  I  snatched  my  gun  and  ran  out  of  the 
tent.  The  ashari  was  back  by  the  grass  hut 
that  the  porters  had  built,  as  a  protection 
against  lions,  for  the  horses.  He  said  that  he 
had  shot  at  a  lion  that  was  prowling  about  the 
camp.  He  watched  it  for  some  time,  and,  as  it 
circled  around  to  the  horse-shed,  he  supposed 
that  it  intended  to  attack  the  animals,  so  he  fired. 
Several  porters  that  ran  from  their  tents  saw 
the  beast,  however,  and  they  were  confident  that 
it  was  a  hyena. 

While  camp-fires  are  acknowledged  to  be  the 
best  protection  at  night  against  lions,  there  are 
many  instances  where  these  cats  have  scarcely 


LIONS  29 

heeded  them.  Men  have  been  carried  off  while 
sleeping  beside  a  brightly  burning  fire,  and  cattle 
have  been  attacked  within  a  circle  of  camp-fires. 

Heller  took  care  of  the  colonel's  large  animals, 
so  whenever  an  elephant,  a  hippopotamus,  or  a 
rhinoceros  was  killed  he  would  take  his  skin- 
ning tools  and  enough  men  to  carry  his  camping 
outfit  and  go  out  to  the  place  and  camp  until 
his  work  was  finished.  Usually  the  porters  re- 
turned to  the  main  camp  the  same  day,  leaving 
him  alone  with  his  four  native  assistants.  Sev- 
eral times,  while  on  these  trips,  lions,  attracted 
by  the  smell  of  flesh  and  blood,  paid  him  visits 
at  night. 

They  would  circle  about  his  tent  grunting, 
growling,  and  purring,  and  if  he  was  camped 
near  the  skinned  carcass  of  an  animal  he  could 
hear  them  fighting  over  it  all  night.  But  usu- 
ally there  is  little  danger  from  a  lion  that  an- 
nounces itself  by  grunting  or  growling.  The 
animals  that  are  dangerous  are  those  that  are 
never  seen  or  heard  until  after  they  have 
snatched  a  man  and  made  away  with  him. 

One  night  two  lions  came  to  call  on  Heller 
when  he  was  armed  with  only  a  shotgun  and  a 
few  shells  of  bird  shot.     He  very  wisely  shut  the 


30    AFRICAN  ADVENTURE  STORIES 

flap  to  the  tent  door  and  sat  in  silence  listening 
to  them  grunting  and  purring.  They  passed 
around  his  tent  several  times  while  he  and  his 
porters,  who  were  in  a  near-by  tent,  kept  per- 
fectly quiet,  and  finally  the  cats  departed. 

Not  far  from  Nairobi  there  lives  an  English- 
man in  one  of  the  typical  East  African  sheet-iron 
bungalows.  Several  living-rooms  lack  connec- 
tions, so  in  passing  from  one  room  to  another  it 
is  necessary  to  step  out  on  the  veranda  and 
walk  to  the  door  of  the  adjacent  room. 

One  evening  a  guest  for  the  night  arrived  and 
left  his  wagon  standing  by  the  side  of  the  veranda 
opposite  the  door  of  the  room  that  he  was  to 
occupy.  The  two  men  talked  well  into  the  night, 
and  then  the  guest  bade  his  host  good  night  and 
stepped  out  on  the  veranda.  He  had  reached 
his  room,  opened  the  door,  and  was  standing  on 
the  threshold,  when  a  lion,  that  must  have  been 
watching  the  men  through  the  window,  sprang 
at  him  from  behind  the  wagon.  The  beast  mis- 
calculated, however,  for  it  failed  to  clear  the 
vehicle,  fell  upon  the  porch,  and,  sliding  across 
it,  struck  the  door  with  such  force  that  the  guest 
was  sent  sprawling  to  the  matting  and  the  door 
closed  safely  behind  him. 


LIONS  81 

The  rifles  were  in  another  part  of  the  building, 
and,  as  neither  of  the  men  dared  to  venture  out 
of  his  room,  they  had  to  content  themselves 
with  shouting  to  each  other  through  the  parti- 
tion and  let  the  lion  depart  at  his  will,  which  he 
did  in  a  few  hours'  time. 

In  the  N'Guasso  Nyero  country  we  met  a 
Boer  who  was  travelling  through  the  land  trad- 
ing cattle  with  the  Masai.  Not  long  before  this 
a  lion  had  crept  up  to  his  camp  one  night  and 
sprung  at  a  sleeping  ox  driver.  The  boy  was 
covered  with  two  pairs  of  blankets,  and  in  its 
haste  to  escape  the  lion  made  a  hurried  grab 
and  ran  off  with  the  blankets  only. 

In  the  same  locality  lions  once  chased  a  zebra 
up  to  a  settler's  house  and  killed  it  within  fifty 
feet  of  his  door-step.  There  were  four  or  five 
lions  in  the  bunch,  and,  though  the  man  used 
up  all  of  his  ammunition  trying  to  kill  them  or 
frighten  them  away,  he  was  compelled  to  lie  in 
bed  most  of  the  night  listening  to  them.  We 
met  the  same  man  a  few  weeks  after  leaving 
the  region  and  he  told  us  that  he  had  come  to 
Nairobi  to  buy  a  horse  to  replace  one  that  lions 
had  killed  in  broad  daylight  the  day  before  and 
within  a  stone's  throw  of  his  house  and  our  old 
camping  site. 


32    AFRICAN  ADVENTURE  STORIES 

One  is  somewhat  disappointed  on  hearing  his 
first  Hon  in  the  African  wilds.  If  he  expects  to 
hear  them  roaring  as  they  do  in  circuses  or  zo- 
ological parks  he  will  discover  his  mistake.  In 
the  eleven  months  that  we  spent  in  Africa  I  do 
not  recall  ever  hearing  a  lion  "roar."  Lion- 
hunters  told  me  that  they  sometimes  do,  but 
rarely.  Time  and  time  again  we  heard  lions  at 
a  distance,  but  they  gave  only  deep,  guttural 
grunts,  first  long  and  slowly  uttered,  then 
shorter  and  shorter  and  quicker  and  quicker, 
until  they  died  away  entirely.  In  fact,  the 
grunts  were  the  deep,  short  notes  that  always 
follow  the  inspiring  roar  of  caged  lions. 

In  British  East  Africa,  the  chief  prey  of  lions 
is  the  zebra,  and  most  of  them  are  killed  at 
night.  The  big  cat  creeps  up  to  its  horse-Hke 
prey  and  with  a  sudden  spring  or  a  dash  pounces 
upon  the  victim's  shoulder.  Reaching  over 
with  one  fore  paw,  it  seizes  the  creature's  nose 
and  with  a  sudden  wrench  breaks  the  neck,  or 
causes  the  animal  to  tumble  and  the  neck  is 
broken  by  the  fall.  Zebras  are  short-winded, 
and  they  are  so  abundant  that  it  is  not  difficult 
for  a  lion  to  secure  a  meal  whenever  he  wishes 
one. 


LIONS  33 

Next  in  abundance  to  the  zebra  is  the  harte- 
beest,  and  these  two  animals,  at  the  time  of  our 
visit  to  Africa,  were  so  common  that  they  were 
a  pest  to  the  settlers.  They  break  through 
barbed-wire  fences  and  destroy  the  crops  to 
such  an  extent  that  the  settlers  welcome  sports- 
men. One  settler  said  to  me:  "While  Colonel 
Roosevelt's  writings  will  be  of  great  benefit  to 
us  by  encouraging  other  sportsmen  to  come 
here  and  shoot  the  animals,  on  the  other  handf 
he  has  done  us  an  injury  by  shooting  the  lions. 
If  the  fifteen  lions  that  your  party  has  already 
killed  had  been  allowed  to  live,  in  a  few  months 
they  would  have  exterminated  more  game  than 
you  will  get  during  your  entire  trip."  Another 
settler  argued  that  the  shooting  of  lions  was  of 
benefit,  for,  as  he  said,  "some  of  them  might 
become  man-eaters  and  kill  scores  of  natives." 


CHAPTER  III 

FIGHTING   AN  AFRICAN   GRASS-FIRE 

WHEN  one  passes  into  the  Congo  and 
Uganda  country  of  Africa  the  veldt 
gives  way  to  vast  areas  of  what  is 
called  '*  elephant-grass."  This  grass  grows  not 
only  in  the  open  level  and  fertile  country,  but 
also  in  extremely  stony  regions  and  even  in 
the  open  thorn-tree  groves. 

When  fully  grown,  elephant-grass  varies  in 
height  from  five  feet  to  ten  feet,  and  some  of 
the  stalks  are  as  large  as  a  bamboo  fish-pole.  The 
natives  utilise  the  stalks  in  making  fences  and 
huts,  while  the  blades  of  the  grass  are  used  for 
thatching  roofs  and  for  the  sides  of  the  buildings. 

TravelHng  for  days  and  days  through  these 
vast  grass  areas,  where  the  only  trails  are  those 
made  by  elephants  and  other  animals,  is,  indeed, 
monotonous.  The  stalks  tower  some  four  or 
five  feet  above  your  head,  the  tropical  sun  beats 
down  upon  your  back,  and  every  breath  of  air 
is  shut  out  by  the  thick,  stifling  foliage. 

By  the  last  of  January  the  grass  is  fully  grown, 

34 


FIGHTING  AN  AFRICAN  GRASS-FIRE  35 

and  a  month  later  it  is  so  dry  that  both  the 
whites  and  the  natives  set  fire  to  it  in  order  to 
facihtate  travel.  When  fired  by  the  blacks  the 
chief  of  the  district  usually  appoints  a  certain 
day  for  the  conflagration,  that  the  people  may 
keep  their  stock  enclosed  and  make  ready  for 
the  great  event. 

On  entering  the  White  Nile  from  Lake  Albert 
one  evening  about  ten  o'clock,  we  travelled  all 
night,  all  the  next  day,  and  at  eleven  o'clock 
that  evening  came  to  a  place  that  was  eventu- 
ally named  "Rhino  Camp."  It  was  pitch  dark 
and  the  native  pilot  felt  uncertain  of  his  bear- 
ings, so  we  thought  it  unwise  to  unload  the  boats 
until  dawn  should  apprise  us  of  our  position; 
therefore  we  spent  the  night  on  the  tiny  launch, 
serenaded  by  lions,  hippopotami  or  "hippos"  as 
they  are  commonly  called,  and  elephants.  In 
the  morning  we  found  ourselves  well  located,  so 
the  boats  were  beached  and  the  duffel  unloaded. 

It  was  an  attractive  spot.  The  land  rose 
gradually  from  the  shore;  the  bank  was  lined 
with  trees  and  bushes  of  various  species,  and  an 
open  thorn-tree  grove  extended  inland  several 
hundred  yards,  while  beneath  them  the  elephant- 
grass  was  eight  or  ten  feet  high. 


36    AFRICAN  ADVENTURE  STORIES 

In  a  few  hours  the  porters  had  cleared  away  a 
large  tract  of  grass  and  were  busy  pitching  the 
tents  in  the  edge  of  the  grove.  When  the  camp 
was  finally  settled  it  certainly  was  a  picturesque 
sight.  Our  line  of  dark-green  tents  were  some 
fifty  yards  from  the  river;  back  of  them  was  a 
cluster  of  heavy  drill  tents  belonging  to  the  tent 
boys  and  gun  bearers;  then  came  the  bee-hive- 
shaped  grass  huts  of  the  porters,  making  in  all 
quite  a  respectable  village,  with  the  elephant- 
grass,  which  commenced  at  the  very  back  of  the 
porters'  domiciles,  extending  in  one  unbroken 
mass  as  far  as  the  eye  could  reach. 

We  remained  here  about  three  weeks  and 
made  a  fine  collection,  for  the  country  was 
very  rich  in  animal  life.  Colonel  Roosevelt  and 
Kermit  had  secured  an  exceptionally  fine  group 
of  white  rhinoceroses,  which  Heller  and  his  na- 
tive skinners  had  spent  days  of  arduous  work  in 
preparing.  These,  by  the  way,  aside  from  one  or 
two  single  specimens  in  various  museums,  were 
the  only  ones  of  their  kind  in  existence,  and  they, 
together  with  the  hundreds  of  birds  and  small 
mammals  that  Doctor  Mearns  and  I  had  col- 
lected, made  a  collection  that  we  valued  at 
fifty  thousand  dollars. 


FIGHTING  AN  AFRICAN  GRASS-FIRE  37 

As  time  passed  we  saw  dense  clouds  of  smoke 
rising  from  the  opposite  side  of  the  Nile,  some 
twenty  miles  away,  and  we  knew  that  the  blacks 
were  beginning  to  fire  the  elephant-grass.  One 
afternoon  smoke  appeared  far  off  in  the  distance 
back  of  camp,  and  when  night  came  we  saw  the 
glow  of  the  fire  in  the  sky.  A  few  nights  later 
there  were  several  other  glows  in  as  many  dif- 
ferent directions,  but  none  was  nearer  than 
twenty  miles,  and  as  the  wind  was  blowing  away 
from  camp  we  felt  that  there  was  little  danger. 

I  must  admit,  however,  that  from  the  time 
the  fires  were  first  seen  on  our  side  of  the  river  I 
became  nervous  and  kept  a  constant  eye  on  them. 

When  burning  at  a  great  distance  it  is  diffi- 
cult to  judge  exactly  how  far  away  a  fire  really  is, 
and  I  doubt  very  much  if  any  of  us  realised 
how  steadily  the  flames  were  creeping  in  upon  us, 
until  one  noon,  while  we  were  eating  luncheon, 
Kermit  said  to  the  colonel: 

"Father,  what  are  you  looking  at?  You  ap- 
pear to  be  pondering  over  something." 

The  colonel  made  some  casual  reply,  and  it 
occurred  to  me  that  he  was  watching  and  think- 
ing of  the  same  thing  that  occupied  my  mind — 
the  proximity  of  the  fire — for  from  the  open 


38    AFRICAN  ADVENTURE  STORIES 

tent  front  the  smoke  could  be  plainly  seen  belch- 
ing into  the  horizon. 

It  was  about  three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon. 
I  was  busy  in  my  tent  making  up  specimens  and 
the  colonel  was  at  work  on  his  book,  "African 
Game  Trails."  Far  off  in  the  distance  my  ear 
suddenly  caught  a  faint,  rumbling  sound.  I 
dropped  my  tools,  walked  out  back  of  the  tents, 
mounted  an  ant-hill,  and  stood  gazing  and 
listening. 

The  fire  was  coming  into  camp;  there  was  no 
doubt  of  it;  for  far  off  to  the  northward  came 
the  ominous  sound — a  deep,  rumbling  noise  that 
at  times  sounded  like  the  roar  of  a  distant 
waterfall  mingled  now  and  then  with  a  faint 
explosion.  A  great  cloud  of  smoke  rolled  up 
over  the  vegetation  and  drifted  off  to  the  west, 
partly  obscuring  the  sun  and  giving  it  the  ap- 
pearance of  a  huge  ball  of  fire.  I  hurried  back 
to  the  colonel's  tent. 

"Colonel,  the  fire  is  surely  coming  into  camp, 
you  can  already  hear  it,"  I  said. 

The  colonel  stopped  writing  and  listened. 

"By  George,  that's  so.  We  must  get  busy  at 
once  or  our  valuable  collection  and  camp  outfit 
will  be  in  ashes  before  the  day  closes.     Get  all 


FIGHTING  AN  AFRICAN  GRASS-FIRE  39 

the  tent  boys,  gun  bearers,  and  porters  together 
immediately,  and  we  will  cut  a  path  in  the  grass 
and  prepare  to  back-fire;  that  seems  to  be  the 
only  course." 

The  day  before  the  colonel  had  shot  a  white 
rhinoceros  or  "rhino"  as  they  are  generally 
called,  the  last  one  wanted  to  complete  the  group, 
and  Cuninghame,  Heller,  and  about  fifty  of  the 
porters  were  some  ten  miles  away,  preparing  the 
skin  and  skeleton,  which  had  cut  down  our  force 
considerably. 

I  shouted  to  my  tent  boy.  Tommy,  and  told 
him  to  summon  all  the  men  in  camp  and  gather 
up  the  "pangas" — long-bladed  knives  that  the 
blacks  use  to  cut  grass  and  brush — axes,  and 
hatchets  and  any  other  tools  that  could  be  used. 
Then  gangs  of  workmen  were  distributed  in  a 
half -circle  around  camp,  from  the  Nile  on  one 
side  of  camp  to  the  water-line  on  the  other,  and 
set  to  work  cutting  grass. 

The  idea  was  to  clear  a  wide  road  through  the 
grass  all  the  way  round  the  camp,  and  after  it 
was  completed  to  set  fire  to  the  outer  side.  The 
new,  weak  fire  would  run  out  and  consume  the 
fuel  before  the  big  blaze  should  approach  near 
enough  to  leap  the  gap  and  destroy  the  camp. 


40    AFRICAN  ADVENTURE  STORIES 

We  made  the  tent  boys  and  gun  bearers  each 
a  boss  of  every  ten  men.  It  was  their  duty  to 
watch  the  lazy  fellows  and  keep  them  at  work. 
These  gangs  were  placed  far  enough  apart  so  as 
not  to  interfere  with  each  other,  and  in  a  few 
minutes  everything  was  working  finely. 

It  was  fully  two  hundred  yards  from  the  river 
on  one  side  of  the  camp  to  the  Nile  on  the  other, 
and  quick  work  was  necessary  to  complete  the 
task  before  the  fire  should  reach  us.  All  but 
the  worthless  blacks  realised  the  danger.  They 
seemed  to  care  little  whether  the  camp  burned, 
although  they  must  have  known  that  their  sup- 
ply of  food  would  go  with  it. 

One  fellow  was  found  peacefully  sleeping  in 
his  hut  long  after  the  others  were  at  work,  and 
he  refused  to  come  out  until  he  was  dragged  out. 
He  gazed  at  the  approaching  fire,  yawned,  and 
said,  "Oh,  the  fire  is  a  long  way  ofif;  there  is 
no  danger,"  and  started  back  into  the  hut  to 
finish  his  siesta,  but  the  rather  rough  treatment 
that  he  received  at  the  hands  of  one  of  the  gun 
bearers  soon  changed  his  mind  and  he  joined 
the  workers. 

Despite  the  seriousness  of  our  position  it  was 
amusing  to  watch  the  tent  boys  and  gun  bearers 


FIGHTING  AN  AFRICAN  GRASS-FIRE  41 

exhibit  their  newly  vested  authority.  In  fact, 
the  eagerness  with  which  these  "bosses"  watched 
for  an  opportunity  to  apply  the  whip,  and  the 
alacrity  with  which  they  did  it  as  soon  as  a  man 
showed  symptoms  of  shirking,  added  much  to 
the  rapid  progress  that  was  being  made. 

The  colonel  swung  a  panga  as  dexterously  as 
any  one,  and  when  he  noticed  a  gang  of  men  that 
appeared  to  be  backward  in  the  work  he  strolled 
over  and  put  some  of  his  "progressive"  spirit 
into  it. 

The  roar  and  crackle  of  the  flames  was  becom- 
ing louder  and  louder  every  minute,  and  it  was 
soon  evident  that  our  race  with  the  fire  would 
be  a  close  one  and  a  fight  to  the  finish. 

Kermit  walked  out  to  look  the  situation  over 
and  returned  with  the  news  that  the  blaze  was 
not  more  than  two  miles  away  and  was  bearing 
down  upon  us  a  little  quicker  than  a  fast  walk. 
This  report  seemed  to  inspire  the  porters  and 
they  worked  more  willingly. 

About  sundown  Cuninghame  and  Heller  came 
in  with  the  rhino  skin  and  skeleton,  and  this  gave 
us  fifty  more  men,  who  were  at  once  put  at  work. 

Cuninghame  was  somewhat  puzzled  at  our 
actions. 


42   AFRICAN  ADVENTURE  STORIES 

"What  are  you  doing,  colonel?"  he  inquired. 

"We  are  preparing  to  back-fire  and  save  the 
camp,"  was  the  colonel's  reply. 

"But  you  are  liable  to  burn  the  camp  with 
the  very  fire  you  kindle.  It  is  risky  business, 
for  should  the  back-fire  leap  the  gap  and  get  in 
behind  us,  the  porters  could  never  whip  it  out." 

"Well,  what  shall  we  do.?^  What  would  you 
suggest?"  asked  the  colonel. 

"It  seems  to  be  the  only  way,  but  still  there 
is  great  danger  of  losing  the  camp  by  it." 

"Well,  I  would  much  rather  have  the  satis- 
faction of  burning  up  my  own  camp  in  an  effort 
to  save  it  than  to  stand  idle  and  watch  a  grass- 
fire  destroy  it;  so,  unless  you  can  suggest  some 
better  method,  there  seems  to  be  no  alternative," 
was  the  colonel's  answer.  And  so,  as  it  was  de- 
cided to  back-fire,  the  work  was  resumed  with  a 
rush,  for  the  flames  kept  drawing  nearer. 

It  was  the  most  spectacular  fire  I  ever  saw. 
Great  tongues  of  flame,  driven  by  the  erratic 
breezes,  leaped  fifty  and  seventy-five  feet  into 
the  air  and  detached  themselves  for  a  fraction  of 
a  second  before  flickering  out.  Others  writhed 
and  twisted  Hke  huge  serpents,  then  struck  the 
ground  and  with  a  hissing  sound  spread  out  over 


FIGHTING  AN  AFRICAN  GRASS-FIRE  43 

the  grass  and  licked  it  up  as  though  it  were  gun- 
powder. Loud  explosions  frequently  occurred 
as  the  big  stalks  filled  with  steam  and  burst. 
But  the  strangest  sight  was  the  birds  that  gath- 
ered to  feed  upon  the  victims  of  the  fire.  Hun- 
dreds of  marabou  storks,  vultures,  eagles,  hawks, 
and  kites  flew  a  few  rods  in  advance  of  the 
flames  and,  poising  in  the  air  a  few  seconds, 
pounced  down  upon  a  mouse,  rat,  or  big  grass- 
hopper that  had  been  driven  from  its  retreat. 

The  path  was  not  quite  finished  when  night 
fell  and  the  fire  was  seen  sweeping  over  the  low 
ridge  only  a  quarter  mile  away.  The  dew — very 
heavy  at  this  season  of  the  year — was  falhng 
fast,  and  we  realised  that  in  a  short  time  the  grass 
would  be  too  wet  to  kindle.  There  was  no  al- 
ternative but  to  touch  it  off  at  once  and  trust  to 
the  porters  being  able  to  check  its  spreading 
should  it  succeed  in  leaping  back  across  the  road 
we  were  cutting. 

A  number  of  the  men,  armed  with  untrimmed 
branches  cut  fresh  from  trees,  were  stationed 
back  of  the  road  and  the  colonel  gave  the  word. 
We  touched  a  match  to  a  bundle  of  grass  and 
swept  it  along  the  outer  margin  of  the  clearing. 

The  wind  was  against  us  and  the  dew  had 


44   AFRICAN  ADVENTURE  STORIES 

wetted  the  grass  so  that  it  would  not  ignite. 
The  big  fire,  however,  had  gained  such  headway 
by  being  driven  with  the  wind  that  the  heat 
dried  the  grass  far  in  advance  of  the  flames. 

Time  and  again  grass  torches  were  appKed, 
but  each  time,  as  we  passed  on  to  kindle  other 
spots,  we  looked  back  to  see  the  blaze  gradually 
die  down  and  finally  flicker  out  entirely.  With 
anxious  faces  we  gazed  at  each  other,  and  we 
wondered  if,  after  all,  our  efforts  would  be  fruit- 
less. 

A  large  bundle  of  dry  grass  was  then  thrown 
into  a  thick  patch  of  withered  foliage  and  the 
torch  applied.  It  blazed  up  briskly  and  in  a 
few  minutes  was  a  seething  mass  of  flames. 
Waiting  only  long  enough  to  make  sure  that  the 
fire  had  actually  started,  we  urged  the  men  to 
bring  more  grass,  and  in  a  few  minutes  a  succes- 
sion of  fires  were  burning  all  along  the  line. 

While  the  dew  had  hindered  us  in  one  respect 
it  had  assisted  us  in  another,  for  we  found  it 
comparatively  easy  for  the  porters  with  the 
branches  to  beat  out  any  blaze  that  worked 
around  behind  or  succeeded  in  jumping  the  gap. 

It  surely  was  a  relief  to  watch  those  little 
blazes  gradually  growing  larger  and  larger  and 


FIGHTING  AN  AFRICAN  GRASS-FIRE  45 

spreading  from  right  to  left,  until  they  finally 
melted  into  each  other  and  became  a  solid  line 
of  fire.  Slowly  but  surely  it  crept  out  to  meet 
and  check  the  flood  of  flame  that  threatened  to 
destroy  the  camp  and  its  contents. 

It  took  me  back  to  my  schoolboy  days  and  to 
the  pictures  of  the  prairie  fires,  with  the  Indians 
and  settlers,  the  buffaloes  and  the  other  animals 
all  rushing  off  together  to  escape  a  common 
danger. 

In  this  country,  where  animal  Hfe  was  so 
abundant,  I  fully  expected  that  the  same  scenes 
would  be  enacted,  so,  when  our  fire  had  run  out 
several  rods  and  the  earth  was  cool  enough,  I 
followed  in  its  wake  with  my  rifle.  Not  that  I 
wanted  to  kill  any  of  the  unfortunate  creatures 
that  might  have  been  trapped,  but  I  thought 
that  perhaps  a  lion  would  appear,  and  in  such 
an  event  I  might  want  a  weapon  of  some  kind. 

Strange  to  say,  the  only  animals  to  show  them- 
selves were  the  large  yellow  tree  bats  that  took 
the  place  of  the  vultures,  eagles,  and  other  birds 
as  soon  as  darkness  fell. 

The  rival  fires  met  about  two  hundred  yards 
from  camp,  and  as  the  blazes  came  together  there 
was  a  spurt  of  flame  into  the  air  and  then  the 


46   AFRICAN  ADVENTURE  STORIES 

blaze  died  down  and  finally  went  out  entirely. 
Our  camp  was  saved  from  a  catastrophe  that  is 
dreaded  by  all  African  travellers — an  African 
grass-fire. 


CHAPTER  IV 

MY   riRST   LION 

WITHIN  a  day  after  our  arrival  in  camp 
our  porters  had  given  each  member 
of  the  Roosevelt  African  expedition  a 
name  that  corresponded  with  his  duties.  The 
colonel  was  Bwana  Macouha,  "the  big  master"; 
Kermit,  his  son,  was  Bwana  Macdogo,  "the  son 
of  the  big  master";  Doctor  Mearns  was  Bwana 
Doctoro;  Heller,  who  took  care  of  all  the  large 
specimens,  was  Bwana  Engose,  "the  skin  mas- 
ter"; and  I,  whose  duty  it  was  to  study  the  hab- 
its and  preserve  the  skins  of  small  mammals, 
most  of  which  came  under  the  head  of  rats  and 
mice,  was  given  the  undignified  name  of  Bwana 
Panya,  "the  mouse  master." 

In  the  eyes  of  these  natives  the  position  of 
Bwana  Panya  was  a  most  degrading  one,  for 
they  could  not  understand  of  what  use  the  skins 
of  rats  and  mice  could  be  to  any  one.  They 
thought  that  I  was  wasting  my  time  when  on 
all  sides  there  were  herds  of  zebras,  wildebeests, 
hartebeests,  and  other  game.     Game  was  eny- 

47 


48   AFRICAN  ADVENTURE  STORIES 

ama  (meat),  and,  as  an  African  savage  thinks 
more  of  his  stomach  than  of  anything  else,  they 
asked  me  why  I  did  not  do  as  the  other  masters 
had  done — "kill  something  of  value — something 
that  people  could  eat?" 

The  first  gun  bearer  assigned  me  belonged  to 
the  Masai  tribe,  a  brave  race  of  people  that,  as  a 
whole,  despises  work.  This  "boy"  was  an  ex- 
ception to  the  rule,  but  he  stayed  with  me  just 
one  day.  When  he  found  that,  instead  of  shoot- 
ing lions,  leopards,  elephants,  and  "rhinos,"  his 
master  collected  rats  and  mice,  his  humiliation 
was  so  deep  that  after  the  porters  had  called 
him  Panya  (mouse)  a  few  times  he  could  stand 
it  no  longer.  That  night  he  disappeared  and  I 
never  saw  him  again. 

Evidently,  our  boys — African  servants,  por- 
ters, and  all  others  are  called  boys — thought  that 
I  lacked  the  courage  to  attack  dangerous  game 
and  that  I  collected  small  mammals  because  it 
was  much  safer  work.  And  so  I  Hved  for  several 
months,  despised,  jeered  at,  and  known  only  as 
Bwana  Panya,  the  mouse  master.  But  sud- 
denly, within  the  space  of  eight  short  seconds,  I 
retrieved  my  reputation,  and  Bwana  Panya  be- 
came the  hero  of  the  camp. 


MY  FIRST  LION  49 

We  were  camped  on  the  North  N*Guasso 
Nyero  River,  in  what  is  known  as  the  Sotik 
country  of  British  East  Africa.  About  three 
miles  away  was  a  Masai  kraal,  or  village,  a 
circular  enclosure  of  thorn  brush  against  the 
inside  wall  of  which  was  a  row  of  mud-daubed 
huts. 

The  Masai  are  a  pastoral  people  correspond- 
ing to  the  Navajo  Indians  of  our  own  Southwest. 
They  abhor  work  of  any  kind  and  subsist  en- 
tirely upon  their  droves  of  sheep  and  goats  and 
their  herds  of  humpbacked  cattle.  Because  of 
the  presence  of  lions,  leopards,  and  hyenas,  the 
Masai  keep  their  cattle  inside  the  kraals  at 
night;  during  the  day  they  drive  them  out  to 
feed,  under  guard  of  half -naked  youths  armed 
with  spears  or  bows  and  arrows. 

Hardly  a  day  passed  that  large  herds  of  stock 
were  not  driven  to  water  near  our  camp;  the 
herdboys  paid  us  visits  and  watched  us  work. 
We  came  to  know  some  of  them  well  and,  as  they 
were  quiet  and  orderly  and  did  not  beg  for 
everything  they  saw,  we  rather  enjoyed  their 
company. 

Lions  were  plentiful  in  the  region.  One  day 
a  Masai,  who  had  been  frightfully  bitten  and 


50    AFRICAN  ADVENTURE  STORIES 

torn  by  one,  came  to  camp  to  have  our  doctor 
treat  him.  He  and  two  other  Masai  had  at- 
tacked the  Hon  with  spears.  All  three  were 
badly  hurt;  our  visitor's  two  companions  died 
from  their  wounds.  ^  The  Masai's  arms  and  legs 
were  severely  bitten  and  there  was  a  deep  gash 
on  his  back. 

I  was  skinning  specimens  in  front  of  my  tent 
one  afternoon  when  a  long-legged  Masai  herd- 
boy,  whom  I  recognised  as  a  frequent  visitor,  ap- 
peared, and  stood  watching  me  for  some  time. 
Then  in  a  low  tone  of  voice  he  tried  to  converse. 
I  made  a  joking  remark  about  my  inability  to 
understand  him,  which,  of  course,  he  in  his  turn 
failed  to  understand.  Still,  he  went  on  talking, 
and  was  so  persistent  that  I  soon  became 
convinced  that  he  must  have  something  impor- 
tant to  communicate.  I  called  my  tent  boy, 
Tommy,  and  told  him  to  hunt  up  some  of  our 
porters  who  understood  the  Masai  language  and 
find  out  what  the  visitor  had  to  say. 

Tommy  soon  brought  an  interpreter,  and  I 
learned  that  the  herdboy  had  left  his  companion 
watching  a  drove  of  sheep  and  goats  and  had 
come  to  tell  me  that  he  had  seen  a  pair  of  lions 
feeding  upon  the  body  of  a  wildebeest.     After 


MY  FIRST  LION  51 

gorging  themselves  on  the  flesh  the  lions  had 
retreated  to  a  thicket  for  the  day. 

It  was  then  about  three  o'clock,  and  vainly  I 
tried  to  find  out  how  far  away  the  lions  were, 
but  could  only  learn  that  it  was  "not  far.'* 
Past  experience  had  taught  me  that  to  a  Masai 
"not  far"  meant  a  journey  of  from  one  to  six 
hours.  Finally,  I  learned  that  by  travelling  fast 
I  could  reach  the  lions  half  an  hour  before  the 
sun  should  set. 

Colonel  Roosevelt  at  the  time  was  out  hunt- 
ing. I  mounted  my  horse,  took  the  herdboy, 
and,  with  my  gun  bearer  and  several  porters  to 
bring  in  the  lions  in  case  we  were  successful,  at 
once  set  out. 

The  Masai  guide,  who  wore  only  a  square  piece 
of  goatskin  tied  at  two  corners  and  thrown  over 
his  shoulders,  was  a  bright-looking  little  fellow 
about  sixteen  years  old,  well  built  and  with  ex- 
ceptionally long  legs.  When  we  first  started 
out  I  doubted  if  he  could  keep  up  with  my  horse, 
but  after  we  had  gone  two  miles  the  doubt  was 
dispelled.  He  not  only  kept  pace  with  us  but 
usually  he  was  several  rods  in  advance,  urging 
us  onward.  Frequently  he  would  wait  for  us, 
and  by  sign-language  tell  us  that  we  must  hurry 


52    AFRICAN  ADVENTURE  STORIES 

or  the  lions  would  leave  their  retreat  and  start 
out  foraging  before  we  arrived. 

For  eight  miles  that  half -naked  young  savage, 
with  a  spear  in  one  hand,  piloted  us  on  a  swift 
trot  over  the  plains  without  the  slightest  sign 
of  fatigue.  Then  his  actions  showed  that  we 
were  approaching  the  dangerous  spot. 

The  sun  had  sunk  low;  in  half  an  hour  it 
would  drop  behind  the  rocky  hills  on  the  border 
of  German  East  Africa.  In  the  far  distance  I 
caught  sight  of  an  animal  that  I  took  to  be  a 
lion.  As  I  thought  it  was  one  of  those  we  were 
after  that  had  left  its  lair,  I  dismounted  and, 
after  telling  the  boys  to  wait  with  my  horse, 
advanced  on  foot. 

The  country  seemed  alive  with  game.  A 
wart-hog  with  a  litter  of  pigs  appeared  not 
twenty  yards  away;  bands  of  topi,  hartebeests, 
wildebeests,  Thomson's  gazelle.  Grant's  gazelle, 
and  zebras  fed  quietly  or  stared  at  me  from 
all  sides ;  and  quarter  of  a  mile  away  was  a  mam- 
moth eland  bull.  I  kept  on  until  I  was  close 
enough  to  see  that  the  animal  I  was  following 
was  not  one  of  the  lions,  then  I  went  back  to 
where  the  boys  were  waiting. 

I  found  them  clustered  about  a  thorn-tree  in 


MY  FIRST  LION  53 

the  centre  of  a  level,  grassy  tract,  and  as  I  came 
up  my  gun  bearer  pointed  to  the  tree  and 
whispered:  *'Hapa  simba  hehee,  Bwana.  The 
lioness  is  there,  master."  At  that  moment  one 
of  the  porters,  who  was  walking  round  the  tree, 
gave  a  sudden  start  and  backed  away.  I  knew 
that  he  must  have  spied  the  lioness,  although  the 
branches  were  so  thick  and  extended  so  close  to 
the  ground  that  at  a  distance  the  eye  could  not 
penetrate  them. 

The  Masai  herdboy's  curiosity  now  got  the 
better  of  him,  and  he  ventured  within  ten  feet 
of  the  tree  and  peeped  in.  Then  he  ran  back 
to  me  and,  in  a  dramatic  and  realistic  manner, 
imitated  the  grimaces  that  the  beast  had  made 
at  him. 

I  took  a  position  that  later  proved  to  be 
sixty-three  paces  from  the  tree. 

Then,  placing  my  second  rifle  on  the  ground  by 
my  side,  I  knelt  on  one  knee  and  ordered  my 
gun  bearer  to  shoot  a  charge  of  buckshot  into 
the  thicket  in  hope  of  driving  the  lioness  into 
the  open.  As  she  did  not  appear,  he  fired  a 
second  shot,  but  still  she  remained  hidden. 
Then  I  shot  two  bullets  from  my  rifle  into  the 
tree  without  any  result. 


54    AFRICAN  ADVENTURE  STORIES 

Although  I  began  to  think  that  the  imagina- 
tion of  the  men  had  got  the  better  of  them,  I 
was  determined  to  be  on  the  safe  side.  It  would 
be  unwise  to  empty  the  magazine  of  my  rifle, 
for  the  brute,  if  she  were  there,  might  take  that 
opportuDfity  to  charge  out  at  me.  I  therefore 
started  to  reload. 

I  had  placed  one  cartridge  in  the  magazine 
and  was  about  to  insert  another,  that  would  give 
me  the  full  complement  of  five,  when,  with  a 
deep  growl,  the  lioness  sprang  through  the 
thicket  directly  in  front  of  me.  Only  her  head 
and  fore  quarters  were  visible  as  she  paused 
a  few  seconds,  snarling  viciously  and  looking 
about.  Realising  that  there  was  no  time  for 
further  reloading,  I  pressed  the  snap  that  sent 
a  cartridge  into  the  rifle  chamber,  and  threw 
the  rifle  to  my  shoulder  just  as  the  tawny  brute 
whirled  and  charged  for  one  of  the  porters  off 
to  my  right. 

She  had  covered  about  thirty  feet  when  my 
first  bullet  caught  her  back  of  the  fore  shoulder 
— too  far  back  to  strike  her  heart.  She  wheeled 
about  so  suddenly  that  if  her  tail  had  been  a 
whip-lash  it  would  have  cracked  in  the  air,  and 
with  a  savage,  snarhng  growl  came  straight  at  me. 


MY  FIRST  LION  55 

For  an  instant  I  was  undecided  whether  to 
stand  my  ground  or  run.  But  I  reahsed  that  it 
would  be  useless  to  run  for  she  would  overtake 
me  in  a  few  seconds,  so  I  remained  kneeling,  to 
meet  the  charge  and  take  whatever  punishment 
she  might  give  me. 

It  was  the  first  wild  lioness  I  had  seen,  and  I 
expected  her  to  charge  in  great  bounds,  but,  in- 
stead, she  glided  along  close  to  the  ground.  I 
waited  until  she  had  covered  possibly  ten  yards, 
to  see  if  she  would  change  her  pace,  and  as  she 
still  came  on  at  the  same  steady  gUde  I  settled 
myself  for  action. 

It  would  be  like  shooting  at  a  stationary  ob- 
ject that  grew  larger  every  second;  but  there 
was  now  no  time  to  lose,  for  she  was  coming 
with  the  speed  of  an  express-train  and  "every 
little  movement  had  a  meaning  all  its  own." 

I  heard  a  rumbling  growl  at  every  step  she 
took,  and  my  eye,  focussed  through  the  globe- 
sight  of  the  rifle,  looked  squarely  at  a  light  spot 
on  her  breast  through  which  I  hoped  to  send 
the  bullet  that  would  stop  the  mechanism  that 
worked  those  claw-armed  paws  and  those  pow- 
erful, merciless  jaws. 

The  rifle-sight  covered  the  light  chest  spot 


56    AFRICAN  ADVENTURE  STORIES 

when  I  pressed  the  trigger,  yet  the  snarhng  crea- 
ture did  not  even  hesitate  when  the  bullet  struck 
her.  Once  more  I  quickly  took  aim  and  pulled 
the  trigger,  but  still  she  came  gliding,  growling 
on. 

Could  it  be  that  I  was  missing  her?  It  seemed 
impossible,  for  she  was  now  not  sixty  feet  away 
and  coming  faster  and  faster.  I  thought  of  the 
ugly  wounds  that  I  had  helped  dress  on  the  man- 
gled Masai  and  wondered  how  much  of  a  maul- 
ing I  was  about  to  receive. 

Only  one  more  cartridge  remained.  This  I 
fired  pointblank  into  the  breast  of  the  honess 
when  she  was  within  a  rifle  length,  and  then  I 
managed  to  tumble  to  one  side  as  the  tawny 
streak  shot  past,  just  grazing  my  legs.  The 
glassy  stare  in  her  eyes  told  me  she  was  almost 
dead.  Although  the  force  of  her  charge  carried 
her  ten  feet  beyond  me,  she  lacked  the  strength 
or  the  instinct  to  reach  out  with  her  paw  and 
seize  me  as  she  passed.  I  snatched  the  second 
rifle  from  the  ground  and  wheeled  round  just  as 
her  hind  quarters  sank  to  the  ground.  But 
there  was  no  need  for  another  bullet.  She  threw 
her  head  in  the  air  and,  with  a  gasp,  rolled  over 
on  her  side,  dead. 


MY  FIRST  LION  57 

The  boys  came  rushing  up  to  congratulate 
me,  for  it  had  been  a  close  call.  The  Masai 
herdboy  danced  about  the  lioness  in  great  glee, 
shouting,  gesticulating,  and  rehearsing  the  inci- 
dents of  the  exciting  event. 

As  night  was  fast  coming  on  and  it  would 
soon  be  too  dark  to  shoot,  we  lost  no  time  in 
examining  our  prize,  but  made  off  at  once  for 
another  thorn-tree  beneath  which  the  Masai 
thought  the  lioness'  mate  had  hidden.  We 
found  the  lair  where  the  lion  had  spent  the  day, 
but  the  beast  must  have  been  disturbed  by  my 
shots  for  he  had  made  his  escape. 

When  we  skinned  the  lioness  we  discovered 
that  all  four  of  my  shots  had  taken  effect;  the 
three  that  I  had  fired  when  she  was  charging 
were  so  close  together  on  her  chest  that  the 
palm  of  my  hand  covered  all  three  wounds. 
One  mushroom  bullet  had  passed  through  her 
heart  and  left  the  casing  in  it,  yet  she  had  had 
the  vitality  to  keep  on.  Then  I  knew  what  is 
meant  by  the  phrase,  "the  heart  of  a  lion." 

It  was  now  dark,  and  as  we  plodded  along 
toward  camp  under  a  full  moon  and  the  South- 
ern Cross  the  boys  chanted  the  victorious  hunt- 
ing-song.   The  Masai  walked  by  my  side,  jab- 


58   AFRICAN  ADVENTURE  STORIES 

bering  incessantly  as  if  I  understood  every  word, 
and  again  and  again  showed  me  how  the  Uoness 
had  looked  and  acted  as  she  charged. 

Three  miles  from  camp  we  met  a  party,  with 
lanterns,  that  had  been  sent  out  by  the  head 
man  to  guide  us  home.  When  my  companions 
shouted  the  news  of  our  success  thqy  rushed  up 
to  me  and  shook  my  hand.  One  fellow,  as  he 
grasped  my  hand,  exclaimed:  "Well  done,  Bwana 
Panyal  You  are  no  longer  Bwana  Panya  (the 
mouse  master) ;  you  are  Bwana  Simba  (the  lion 
master) ! "  And  from  that  moment  I  was  known 
to  the  entire  party  as  Bwana  Simba. 


CHAPTER  V 

THE  WAYS   OF  THE  AFRICAN   ELEPHANT 

NOT  many  months  ago  a  writer  stated 
that  the  various  species  of  African  ele- 
phants were  being  exterminated  and 
in  a  few  years  would  become  totally  extinct. 
This  may  be  true  in  the  case  of  large  bulls,  ani- 
mals carrying  tusks  of  not  less  than  sixty  pounds 
the  pair,  which  is  the  minimum  weight  for  their 
lawful  killing.  Unless  the  law  is  changed,  ele- 
phants with  tusks  larger  than  this  may  be  exter- 
minated from  those  parts  of  Africa  accessible  to 
white  men,  but  there  are  large  areas  of  country 
"inside"  that  have  been  little  explored,  where 
big  tuskers  are  yet  found  in  considerable  num- 
bers. 

Young  bulls,  cows,  and  calves  are  still  plenti- 
ful and  always  will  be,  for  they  have  no  commer- 
cial value,  are  seldom  molested  by  the  natives, 
and  the  danger  of  elephant  hunting  is  so  great 
that  few  white  men  care  to  shoot  many  of  them 
for  mere  sport,  even  should  the  government  per- 
mit it. 

60 


60   AFRICAN  ADVENTURE  STORIES 

During  my  eleven  months  in  Africa  I  must 
have  seen  about  two  hundred  elephants — not 
many,  it  is  true,  when  one  realises  that  the 
professional  elephant  hunter  who  knows  the 
best  elephant  country  finds  them  in  herds  num- 
bering into  the  thousands. 

In  regions  where  elephants  are  common  they 
cause  considerable  damage  to  the  natives  by 
raiding  the  plantations — usually  at  night — and 
feeding  on  sugar-cane,  corn,  and  vegetables. 
We  passed  through  one  section  of  country  where 
the  people  had  constructed  grass  watch-houses 
in  the  tops  of  trees,  in  which  guards  were  sta- 
tioned to  look  for  elephants.  As  soon  as  a  herd 
was  sighted  an  alarm  was  sounded  and  the  peo- 
ple gathered  with  drums,  horns,  and  other  racket- 
making  devices  and  frightened  the  elephants 
away. 

A  chief  told  us  that  the  buffaloes  also  raided 
the  "shambas"  (gardens)  and  between  the  ele- 
phants and  the  buffaloes  the  inhabitants  of  a 
village  were  sometimes  compelled  to  desert  it 
and  settle  in  another  locality. 

Elephants  become  so  bold  that  they  tear  down 
huts  and  even  kill  people.  Within  two  days* 
march  of  Lake  Albert  we  came  to  a  village  near 


HE  HAD  WRECKED  SEVERAL  GRASS  HUTS 


THE  WAYS  OF  THE  ELEPHANT   61 

which  Hved  a  "rogue"  elephant  that  had  ter- 
rorised the  people  for  weeks.  He  visited  the 
gardens  nearly  every  night  and  had  wrecked 
several  grass  huts,  destroyed  crops,  and  had 
killed  one  man. 

No  sooner  had  we  passed  through  the  usual 
ceremony  of  greeting  the  chief  of  the  district 
than  he  appealed  to  Colonel  Roosevelt  to  rid  his 
people  of  their  pest.  For  several  days  prior  to 
our  arrival  the  chief  had  stationed  men  to  watch 
the  brute  in  anticipation  of  our  coming,  and  he 
told  the  colonel  that  a  runner  had  just  come  in 
with  the  news  that  the  rogue  was  then  resting 
quietly  in  some  elephant-grass  less  than  half 
a  mile  away.  That  any  kind  of  an  elephant 
should  take  up  its  abode  within  hearing  of 
a  village  where  the  people  were  constantly 
shouting,  singing,  and  blowing  horns  seemed  in- 
credible. 

Having  killed  all  the  elephants  that  were 
needed  for  scientific  purposes,  the  colonel  was  at 
first  loath  to  shoot  the  animal,  but  after  an  in- 
terpreter had  portrayed  its  true  character,  and 
Cuninghame  had  explained  that  the  natives  ex- 
pected white  men  to  shoot  such  animals  in  re- 
turn for  the  privilege  of  hunting  in  their  coun- 


62   AFRICAN  ADVENTURE  STORIES 

try,  and  therefore  would  consider  it  a  breach  of 
courtesy  if  he  refused,  he  consented. 

As  the  colonel,  Kermit,  their  gun  bearers,  and 
the  guide  left  camp,  the  chief  warned  them  that 
the  rogue  was  dangerous  and  would  charge  the 
instant  it  saw  them.  The  guide  took  them  right 
up  to  the  animal  before  they  saw  it  through  the 
tall  grass,  and  at  that  moment  it  either  spied  or 
scented  them  and  charged.  The  colonel  gave 
it  a  bullet  and  just  then  Kermit  fired.  The  ele- 
phant stopped  for  a  second  and  as  it  turned  to 
run  a  second  bullet  from  the  colonel's  rifle  struck 
it  back  of  the  ear,  and  Kermit  fired  again.  The 
elephant  fled  through  the  tall  grass,  and  the 
hunters  followed  the  trail  for  some  distance  and 
finally  came  upon  the  mortally  wounded  rogue 
standing  in  a  clump  of  bushes.  The  colonel 
worked  round  to  one  side  and  dropped  the  ani- 
mal in  its  tracks  with  a  bullet  through  the  heart. 
It  measured  ten  feet  and  nine  inches  from  the 
sole  of  its  front  foot  to  its  back  and  carried 
tusks  weighing  one  hundred  and  ten  pounds. 

The  shots  and  the  shouts  of  the  guide  and  the 
watchers  were  plainly  heard  in  camp,  and  when 
it  became  known  that  the  elephant  was  dead 
there  was  great  rejoicing  among  the  villagers. 


THE  WAYS  OF  THE  ELEPHANT    63 

In  British  East  Africa  we  found  elephants  in- 
habiting the  jungle  country  about  the  base  of 
the  mountain  ranges  and  isolated  mountains  and 
on  the  mountains  themselves  to  an  altitude  of 
over  twelve  thousand  feet.  Up  to  that  level, 
on  Mount  Kenia,  their  tracks  were  common. 
In  the  lowlands  of  Uganda  and  the  Congo  they 
frequented  the  immense  tracts  of  elephant-grass 
that  grew  to  a  height  of  ten  feet,  the  small 
strips  of  jungle  along  the  rivers,  and  the  open 
thorn-tree  groves,  where  they  seemed  to  feed 
extensively. 

In  the  thickly  wooded  countries  the  elephants 
had  travelled  single  file  and  had  stepped  in  each 
other's  footprints.  Sometimes  deep  holes  had 
been  worn  in  the  earth,  and  there  were  stretches 
where  these  holes  were  full  of  water;  so  in  fol- 
lowing them  we  had  to  step  over  the  puddles 
from  ridge  to  ridge.  As  the  stride  of  an  elephant 
is  much  longer  than  that  of  a  man,  we  found 
travelling  at  times  leg-stretching  work. 

While  the  trails  themselves  were  wide  and 
well  worn,  strange  to  say  the  great  brutes  had 
simply  forced  their  way  through  the  tangle 
which  closed  in  behind  them,  so  we  were  kept 
busy  ducking  under  limbs,  pushing  brush  away 


64    AFRICAN  ADVENTURE  STORIES 

from  our  faces,  and  climbing  over  logs.  Wher- 
ever a  tree  of  not  too  great  size  obstructed  the 
way  they  had  put  their  heads  against  it  and 
pushed  it  over,  tearing  up  the  roots  on  all  sides. 

While  travelling  they  had  reached  up  with 
their  trunks  and  broken  off  great  limbs  and 
eaten  the  branches.  We  found  that  in  some 
instances  they  had  carried  or  dragged  the  limbs 
several  hundred  yards  without  eating  them, 
which  gave  the  impression  that  it  was  done  in  a 
spirit  of  playfulness.  Again  they  had  dug  about 
the  roots  of  a  tree  with  their  tusks  and  then 
pushed  it  over  or  pulled  it  down  with  their 
trunks.  And  so  all  through  the  forests  we  found 
trees  that  had  been  shoved  down  for  one  reason 
or  another,  limbs  lying  here  and  there  on  the 
ground,  and  roots  that  had  been  dug  up  to  eat. 

In  one  place  where  a  large  herd  of  elephants 
had  passed  through  an  acacia  grove  to  water  at 
the  Nile  the  uprooted  and  torn-down  trees  ap- 
peared as  though  a  cyclone  had  swept  over  them. 
The  acacia  tree  is  a  species  of  thorn-tree  with 
spines  three  and  four  inches  long.  The  thorns 
produce  a  poisonous  effect  on  the  flesh,  which 
lasts  for  several  days,  yet  the  elephants  fed  ex- 
tensively on  them,  thorns  and  all. 


THE  WAYS  OF  THE  ELEPHANT   65 

All  through  the  jungle  at  the  foot  of  big  trees 
were  beds  where  elephants  had  kicked  up  the 
dirt  as  they  stood  sleeping  and  swinging  their 
great  feet,  for  an  elephant  sleeps  while  standing 
and  rarely  lies  down  to  rest. 

One  day  we  lost  our  way  in  the  jungle  at  the 
base  of  Mount  Kenia;  so,  taking  advantage  of 
the  last  hour  of  daylight,  we  went  into  camp 
in  a  little  vista  scarcely  large  enough  to  accom- 
modate our  tents  and  through  which  ran  a  well- 
worn  elephant  trail.  The  porters,  who  were 
without  tents,  made  bough  shelters  in  the  edge 
of  the  timber,  and  after  the  customary  dancing 
and  singing  orgies  they  retired  for  the  night,  and 
the  camp-fires  died  down. 

Camping  in  the  middle  of  an  elephant  thor- 
oughfare without  knowing  when  the  next  street 
parade  will  take  place  is  conducive  to  insomnia; 
so  I  lay  awake  until  after  midnight.  I  was 
dozing  off  when  suddenly  the  most  unearthly 
screech  I  ever  heard  started  me  from  the  cot 
with  a  bound.  It  was  a  sort  of  bugle  screech 
that  was  immediately  followed  by  another  and 
another,  until  the  jungle  seemed  to  be  infested 
with  a  new  species  of  demon,  each  one  trying 
its  utmost  to  outscream  its  competitors.     The 


66    AFRICAN  ADVENTURE  STORIES 

effect  would  have  made  the  inventor  of  a  patent 
hair  restorer  hang  his  head  with  shame. 

Snatching  my  rifle,  I  rushed  out  of  the  tent 
and  stood  Hstening.  From  the  porters'  shelter 
low  murmurings  could  be  heard  and  through  the 
inky  darkness  I  could  see  the  camp-fires  bright- 
ening as  the  embers  were  scraped  together  and 
kindhng  applied.  In  a  few  minutes  the  little 
glade  was  aglow  and  through  the  flickering  fight 
we  saw  the  porters  perched  in  the  tops  of  the 
trees. 

For  an  hour  the  elephants  circled  about,  now 
trumpeting,  now  roaring  or  bellowing,  and  the 
thought  that  they  might  stampede  into  camp 
at  any  moment  was  not  particularly  comforting. 
Finally,  the  rumpus  died  away  as  the  herd 
slowly  went  toward  the  mountain,  the  porters 
came  down  from  their  perches,  and  once  more 
everything  was  serene. 

The  camp  had  just  quieted  down  when  a  sofi- 
tary  elephant  began  to  serenade  us.  He  almost 
circled  our  tents,  but  finally  left  us  by  the  lower 
side,  trumpeting  loudly  as  he  passed  beyond 
hearing. 

The  following  morning  we  packed  up,  found 
the  trail  again,  and  were  soon  in  the  bamboo 


THE   WAYS  OF  THE  ELEPHANT    67 

belt,  a  stretch  five  miles  wide  that  completely 
circles  Momit  Kenia  between  the  altitudes  of 
nine  thousand  and  eleven  thousand  feet. 

Travelling  in  the  bamboo  might  be  compared 
to  tramping  through  a  field  of  giant  rye  or  oats 
from  fifteen  to  fifty  feet  high.  Elephant  trails 
sectioned  and  cross-sectioned  each  other  in  all 
directions.  The  trails  were  so  numerous  that  we 
could  travel  in  any  direction,  deviating  but  lit- 
tle from  our  true  course. 

Under  the  most  favourable  circumstances  ele- 
phant hunting  is  dangerous  work,  and  in  the 
jungle,  the  thick  bamboo,  and  the  tall  elephant- 
grass  this  risk  is  multiphed  ten  times.  One  can 
seldom  see  more  than  a  few  yards  into  the 
thicket,  and  he  is  likely  to  overlook  an  elephant 
standing  a  short  distance  away  which  on  scent- 
ing him  is  quite  as  liable  to  charge  a^  not. 

October  and  November  are  the  best  months 
of  the  year  to  study  elephants  at  close  range  in 
the  bamboo  belts  on  the  high  mountains,  for  it  is 
then  that  the  cows  leave  the  lowlands  to  feed 
upon  the  tender  bamboo  shoots  and  to  bring 
forth  their  young.  As  may  be  imagined,  much 
of  interest  can  then  be  learned  in  a  very  short 
time,  for  a  big  elephant  with  a  small  one  is  pro- 


68    AFRICAN  ADVENTURE  STORIES 

portionately  peevish  and  a  person  can  never 
tell  when  this  peevishness  will  suddenly  be  thrust 
upon  him. 

I  must  admit  that  a  peculiar  feeling  always 
passed  over  me  whenever  I  heard  a  commotion 
in  the  bamboos  near  by  and  the  gun  bearer  fran- 
tically seized  the  Ithaca  shotgun  from  my  hand 
and  replaced  it  with  the  cocked  rifle.  Every  in- 
stant I  expected  to  see  an  elephant  rush  out,  and 
I  wondered  whether  I  had  better  shoot  for  the 
heart  through  the  chest,  for  the  brain  through 
the  head,  or  for  camp  through  the  bamboos,  and 
a  feeling  of  reUef  came  over  me  when  I  discov- 
ered that  time  that  my  elephants  were  simply 
a  troop  of  startled  monkeys  hurrying  away. 

When  resting  or  sleeping,  elephants  stand 
huddled  together,  but  when  they  start  out  to 
feed  they  scatter  and  the  hunter  can  never  tell 
when  or  from  what  direction  he  will  be  charged 
by  an  animal  he  has  not  seen.  Colonel  Roose- 
velt had  a  narrow  escape  in  this  way  when  shoot- 
ing one  of  his  first  elephants. 

He  and  Cuninghame  were  trailing  the  animal, 
and  when  within  shooting  distance  the  colonel 
fired  and  wounded  it,  but  killed  it  with  his  sec- 
ond barrel.     Before  he  could  reload,  another  ele- 


THE  WAYS  OF  THE  ELEPHANT    69 

phant  charged  unexpectedly  and  would  surely 
have  wounded  or  killed  one  or  both  of  the  hunt- 
ers had  not  Cuninghame  turned  it  aside  with 
both  barrels  of  his  heavy  rifle.  The  dense  jungle 
prevented  all  chance  of  escape,  and  the  brute 
passed  so  close  to  the  colonel  that  it  could 
have  touched  him  with  its  trunk  as  it  rushed 
past. 

As  soon  as  a  shot  is  fired  the  herd  will  fre- 
quently charge  about,  trumpeting  and  bellowing. 
Even  when  an  elephant  is  charging  the  hunter 
cannot  always  fire  as  soon  as  he  would  like  for 
fear  his  bullet  might  strike  a  limb  and  deflect 
from  its  course. 

From  these  remarks  it  must  not  be  taken 
for  granted  that  elephants  always  charge.  On 
scenting  danger  from  afar  they  usually  depart. 
It  is  when  surprised  at  close  quarters  that  they 
seem  to  lose  their  heads  and  rush  about,  prob- 
ably trying  to  locate  the  trouble  in  order  to 
avoid  it.  Trumpeting,  bellowing,  and  squeal- 
ing, they  tear  first  one  way  then  another,  and 
should  they  catch  sight  of  the  hunter  they  are 
then  liable  to  charge  him.  Failing  to  find  him, 
they  huddle  together  and  the  whole  herd  departs. 
After  one  such  experience  it  is  only  men  with 


70    AFRICAN  ADVENTURE  STORIES 

iron  nerve  that  care  to  continue  the  so-called 
sport. 

An  elephant  uses  several  original  and  effective 
methods  of  exterminating  its  victims.  It  may 
rush  upon  a  man,  seize  him  in  its  trunk,  beat 
him  to  death  on  the  ground,  and,  before  leav- 
ing, tear  up  the  foUage  for  yards  about. 

There  are  many  instances  of  elephants  liter- 
ally tearing  their  victim  to  pieces.  The  story  is 
told  of  an  English  official  in  Uganda  who,  on 
noticing  a  safari  passing,  stepped  to  the  door  to 
inquire  of  the  head  man  the  whereabout  of  his 
master.  In  response,  the  black  swung  a  human 
arm  before  the  official  and  replied  that  a  few 
days  previous  his  master  had  been  torn  to  pieces 
by  an  elephant  and  that  he  had  brought  back  the 
arm  as  proof  of  his  assertion. 

Then,  again,  after  knocking  a  man  down  an 
elephant  will  often  continue  on  its  course  without 
stopping  to  learn  how  much  damage  it  has  done. 
A  hunter  who  was  within  close  proximity  of  a 
herd  of  elephants  handed  his  rifle  to  the  gun 
bearer  and  started  to  climb  a  tree  to  look  about. 
At  that  moment  an  elephant  charged  from  the 
tall  grass  and  made  for  the  gun  bearer.  As  the 
man  started  to  run,  he  threw  up  his  arms,  and  in 


THE  WAYS  OF  THE  ELEPHANT    71 

some  peculiar  manner  the  elephant,  in  reaching 
for  him,  snatched  the  rifle  from  his  hand  and 
stopped  to  hammer  it  on  the  ground  while  the 
black  made  good  his  escape. 

Usually,  though,  after  an  elephant  has  knocked 
a  man  down  it  kneels  on  him  or,  dropping  to 
its  knees,  probes  him  with  its  tusks.  Mr.  Carl 
Akeley,  who  has  visited  Africa  several  times  in 
the  interests  of  various  American  museums,  was 
nearly  killed  by  an  elephant  in  this  manner. 
His  elephant  charged  at  close  range,  knocked 
him  down,  and  kneeling,  attempted  to  gore  him. 
He  managed  to  grab  the  tusks  in  time  to  swing 
his  body  between  them  before  they  descended, 
and  they  passed  harmlessly  on  each  side.  The 
curled  trunk,  however,  crushed  his  chest  and 
broke  several  ribs.  When  he  regained  con- 
sciousness the  elephant  had  gone  and  his  boys 
had  deserted  him.  The  boys  finally  returned 
and  carried  him  to  camp  and  it  was  several 
months  before  he  fully  recovered. 

It  is  a  strange  fact  that  there  are  very  few 
cases  of  men  being  slightly  mauled  by  an 
elephant.  They  are  either  killed  outright, 
mortally  wounded,  or  escape  miraculously  with 
nothing  more  than  a  general  shake-up  and  a 


72    AFRICAN  ADVENTURE  STORIES 

severe  fright.  In  fact,  when  an  elephant  charges 
one  can  never  tell  what  will  happen  until  it  is  all 
over. 

At  Nairobi  we  were  introduced  to  a  Russian 
doctor  who  went  over  into  the  Congo  a  few  weeks 
in  advance  of  our  party.  At  Gondokoro  we 
again  met  him  and  he  exhibited  a  shirt  in  which 
was  a  long  rent  made  by  the  tusks  of  an  elephant. 
The  animal  charged,  he  jumped  aside,  and  the 
tusks  ripped  the  hole  in  his  shirt.  Continuing 
its  course,  it  overtook  the  gun  bearer,  knocked 
him  down,  stepped  on  his  head,  and  rushed  on. 

Unlike  a  lion,  an  elephant  will  usually  bolt 
when  severely  wounded.  There  are  very  few  in- 
stances where  a  lion,  after  once  charging,  has 
been  known  to  stop  or  turn  aside  unless  it  was 
disabled.  It  continues  so  long  as  it  can  keep 
on  its  feet  and  will  sometimes  kill  a  man  while 
gasping  its  last  breath.  But  an  elephant,  when 
mortally  wounded,  will  often  turn,  and  even 
should  it  continue  its  charge  and  pass  so  close 
that  it  could  easily  pick  up  its  victim  it  fre- 
quently rushes  past  without  noticing  him. 

Very  little  is  known  of  the  breeding  habits  of 
elephants  or  their  manner  of  caring  for  their 
young.     A  gentleman  with  whom  we  became 


THE  WAYS  OF  THE  ELEPHANT    73 

very  well  acquainted  while  on  the  Mount  Kenia 
trip  was  not  a  professional  elephant  hunter,  nev- 
ertheless he  had  killed  several  elephants  on  Kili- 
manjaro. Once  by  mistake  he  shot  and  wounded 
a  cow  elephant  that  ran  some  distance  before 
falling.  On  overtaking  her  he  found  that  she 
had  fallen  in  a  kneeling  position,  A  little  calf 
was  pinned  under  her  knee  by  a  leg  that  was 
driven  deep  into  the  soft  earth.  A  close  exami- 
nation of  the  route  over  which  the  old  elephant 
had  passed  failed  to  reveal  any  of  the  little  one's 
tracks.  This,  together  with  the  fact  that  the 
calf  was  not  hitherto  seen  and  the  peculiar  man- 
ner in  which  it  lay,  might  be  taken  as  proof  that 
the  mother  was  carrying  it  in  her  trunk  or  per- 
haps resting  it  on  her  tusks,  with  her  trunk 
holding  it  in  position. 

Certainly  a  baby  elephant  cannot  keep  up 
with  its  mother  when  escaping  from  danger,  and 
it  is  reasonable  to  suppose  that  an  animal  which 
makes  a  specialty  of  carrying  things  in  its  trunk 
and  is  intelligent  enough  to  push  down  trees  ten 
inches  in  diameter  and  shove  logs  and  stones 
out  of  its  path  might,  under  certain  circum- 
stances, have  the  sense  to  carry  off  its  young. 

We  were  astonished  to  find  elephants  roaming 


74    AFRICAN  ADVENTURE  STORIES 

over  the  rocky  ridges  and  the  steep  sides  of  ra- 
vines, and  it  was  really  remarkable  what  rough 
country  they  sometimes  inhabited.  I  was  once 
searching  about  a  steep,  rocky,  timber-covered 
pinnacle  at  the  lower  edge  of  the  heather  belt  on 
Mount  Kenia  for  a  good  place  to  set  my  mouse- 
traps. In  scrambling  through  the  moss-covered 
boulders  I  found  many  elephant  tracks  and 
after  some  diflSculty  reached  the  summit  to  dis- 
cover that  a  herd  of  elephants  had  preceded  me. 
Elephants  can  climb  up  the  side  of  a  mountain 
so  steep  that  the  hunter,  even  by  using  the 
shrubbery  to  aid  him,  has  difficulty  in  following. 
Way  up  in  the  heather  belt,  at  an  altitude  of 
twelve  thousand  feet,  where  in  October  half  an 
inch  of  ice  formed  in  buckets  of  water  standing 
outside  the  tent  at  night,  we  found  elephant 
tracks  common.  In  crossing  the  bogs — of  which 
there  were  many — the  elephants  usually  sepa- 
rated and  came  together  again  as  soon  as  they 
struck  solid  ground.  Their  feet  left  holes  in  the 
muck  from  one  to  two  feet  deep.  These  holes 
were  full  of  water  and  grass  had  grown  over 
them;  so  we  were  constantly  stumbling  into 
them,  and  the  water  spurted  into  our  faces  as  we 
fell  forward  and  wallowed  on  all  fours.     I  never 


THE  WAYS  OF  THE  ELEPHANT    75 

returned  to  camp  after  dark  without  being 
drenched  in  this  manner  and  soon  learned  to 
get  back  before  the  sun  went  down. 

From  a  long  distance  the  hunter  is  often  ap- 
prised of  the  presence  of  elephants  by  the  flocks 
of  white  "cow-herons"  that  usually  keep  them 
company  and  feed  on  the  hordes  of  insects  that 
the  animals  attract  and  disturb  from  the  grass. 
As  he  draws  near  he  hears  the  breaking  of 
branches  and  the  crash  of  falling  trees,  but  if 
the  animals  are  resting  he  may  first  be  warned 
of  danger  by  a  strong  pungent  odour,  or  he  may 
hear  the  rumble  of  their  stomachs  and  other 
sounds  caused  by  the  process  of  digestion. 

The  hearing  of  elephants  is  very  acute,  but  in 
regions  inhabited  by  natives  they  become  accus- 
tomed to  the  human  voice  and  scarcely  heed  it, 
as  already  recounted  in  the  case  of  the  rogue 
elephant  killed  by  the  colonel. 

We  were  finishing  our  last  day's  march  to  Lake 
Albert  and  passed  a  village  where  the  people 
were  laughing,  singing,  and  talking,  while  the 
children  romped  at  play.  By  the  side  of 
the  trail  several  blacks  stood  on  the  topmost 
branches  of  a  huge  fallen  tree,  gazing  intently  at 
some  object  in  the  elephant-grass.     On  mount- 


76    AFRICAN  ADVENTURE  STORIES 

ing  the  limbs  I  saw  a  herd  of  about  ten  elephants 
huddled  together  not  more  than  three  hundred 
yards  away.  I  was  told  that  this  herd  had  been 
lingering  in  the  vicinity  for  several  weeks. 

In  regions  little  frequented  by  man  the  sound 
of  the  human  voice  will  alarm  elephants  as 
quickly  as  the  scent  of  a  hunter.  But  they  rely 
more  on  their  keen  scent  to  warn  them  of  dan- 
ger than  on  either  hearing  or  seeing.  When  ap- 
proaching a  herd  the  chief  thought  in  an  ele- 
phant hunter's  mind  is  the  direction  of  the  wind. 
He  first  tries  to  make  sure  that  the  animals  are 
not  scattered  and  that  there  are  none  to  the 
right  or  to  the  left  that  will  catch  his  wind  and 
give  the  alarm.  Often  he  sends  his  gun  bearer 
up  a  tree  or  to  the  top  of  an  ant-hill  to  look 
about. 

So  long  as  the  elephants'  trunks  are  down 
there  is  little  danger,  but,  when  he  sees  the 
U-shaped  curve  of  a  proboscis  waving  in  the 
air  over  the  top  of  the  elephant-grass,  he  knows 
that  if  its  owner  has  not  actually  scented  him,  it 
is  at  least  suspicious  of  danger  and  is  feeling  for 
his  scent.  Then,  when  another  and  another  ap- 
pears, he  is  certain  that  the  warning  has  been 
communicated  to  the  whole  herd  and  that  trouble 


THE  WAYS  OF  THE  ELEPHANT    77 

is  brewing  beneath  those  heavy  skins,  which  on 
an  adult  animal  will  average  an  inch  and  a  half 
in  thickness. 

Many  a  man  has  Providence  to  thank  for 
creating  so  powerful  a  creature  with  a  serious 
defect — poor  eyesight.  I  am  not  aware  that 
any  oculist  has  examined  the  sight  of  an  ele- 
phant to  determine  how  far  it  can  see,  but  it  is 
certain  that,  so  far  as  discovering  a  human  be- 
ing is  concerned,  its  eyesight  is  not  of  much  use 
beyond  fifty  yards.  Time  and  again  men  have 
stood  by  the  side  of  a  tree,  crouched  by  a  bush, 
or  lain  flat  on  an  ant-hill  while  a  herd  of  infuri- 
ated elephants  charged  about  only  a  few  yards 
away. 

While  out  hunting  white  rhinoceroses  in  the 
Lado  country  on  the  White  Nile,  we  came  upon 
a  herd  of  nine  elephants.  When  first  seen  they 
were  on  a  burnt  tract  about  four  hundred  yards 
away,  but  they  gradually  drew  nearer  until  they 
were  within  two  hundred  yards.  We  did  not 
wish  to  kill  them,  so  rather  than  run  the  risk  of  a 
charge  and  be  compelled  to  shoot  them  we  circled 
them.  From  an  ant-hill  we  watched  the  great 
brutes  for  fifteen  minutes  and  were  in  plain  sight 
all  the  time,  yet  they  never  detected  us.     An 


78    AFRICAN  ADVENTURE  STORIES 

antelope  or  a  deer  would  have  spied  the  dan- 
ger the  instant  our  heads  appeared  over  the 
grass. 

A  small  flock  of  cow-herons  accompanied  the 
herd,  riding  on  the  backs  of  the  animals  and  then 
flying  to  the  ground  and  feeding  in  the  grass  until 
the  elephants  had  outdistanced  them,  when  again 
they  launched  into  the  air  and  overtook  their 
great  hosts.  The  elephants  paid  so  httle  heed 
to  the  birds  that  it  was  quite  evident  the  two 
lived  on  most  friendly  terms. 

There  were  several  calves  in  the  herd  and  they 
trailed  along  in  the  rear  and  then  galloped  on  to 
overtake  their  parents.  We  circled  them  with- 
out trouble  and  continued  our  hunt.  On  re- 
turning several  hours  later,  we  found  them  in 
almost  the  same  position  in  which  they  had  been 
left. 

A  few  days  later  a  herd  of  about  fifty  ele- 
phants strolled  to  within  a  mile  and  a  half  of 
camp  and  for  over  an  hour  we  watched  them 
through  the  glasses.  It  was  about  ten  o'clock 
in  the  forenoon,  so  probably  they  were  on  their 
way  to  water  at  the  Nile.  There  were  only 
young  bulls,  cows,  and  calves  in  the  herd.  They 
must  have  scented  our  camp,  for  very  soon  they 


THE  WAYS  OF  THE  ELEPHANT    79 

became  suspicious  and,  after  wandering  about, 
started  back  over  the  route  they  had  come. 

When  in  the  open  country  they  spread  out 
and  walked  abreast,  but  as  soon  as  a  thicket  was 
reached  they  dropped  behind  each  other  and  fol- 
lowed single  file.  They  were  constantly  tossing 
dirt  and  tussocks  of  grass  on  and  over  their 
backs,  fanning  themselves  with  their  immense 
ears  and  at  intervals  extending  them  on  each 
side,  which,  through  the  field-glasses,  presented 
a  most  hideous  appearance.  As  usual,  a  large 
flock  of  cow-herons  accompanied  them  and  when 
these  birds  lit  on  the  back  of  an  animal  they 
gave  it  the  appearance  of  being  a  white-backed 
elephant. 

Suddenly  the  launch  that  was  to  take  us  to 
Nimule  rounded  a  bend  in  the  river  and  whistled. 
The  elephants  turned  sharply  to  the  right  and 
ambled  off  at  a  rapid  rate.  A  little  calf  some 
distance  in  the  rear  did  not  hurry  fast  enough 
to  suit  its  mother,  and  I  saw  her  stop  and  wait 
until  it  came  up  and  then  drive  it  on  ahead, 
occasionally  giving  it  a  gentle  tap  with  her 
trunk. 


CHAPTER  VI 

CHASED   BY   AN   OSTRICH 

PROBABLY  the  most  amusing  incident 
that  happened  to  any  member  of  the 
Roosevelt  African  expedition  occurred  to 
me  before  we  had  been  in  Africa  a  week;  I  was 
chased  by  an  ostrich.  The  ostrich  was  not  a 
wild  one,  for  the  wild  birds  are  far  too  cunning 
to  do  anything  so  adventurous.  We  saw  them 
feeding  in  pairs  and  small  groups  on  the  veldt, 
but  they  were  too  shy  to  be  easily  approached. 

The  ostrich  that  gave  chase  to  me  was  a  huge 
bird  that  belonged  to  an  English  settler  by  the 
name  of  Percival.  It  was  a  member  of  a  fine 
flock  he  had  reared  from  eggs  brought  to  him 
by  the  natives.  He  valued  the  old  birds  at 
four  hundred  dollars  each. 

At  night  Percival  kept  the  ostriches  in  a 
kraal  (brush  enclosure)  and  early  each  morn- 
ing let  them  out  to  feed  on  grass,  while  a  Kikuyu 
boy  stood  guard.     The  native  was  armed  with 

an  eight-foot  pole,  at  the  end  of  which  was  a 

80 


CHASED  BY  AN  OSTRICH  81 

wide  crotch.  This  stick  he  used  to  protect  him- 
self when  an  ostrich  became  ill-tempered  and 
attacked  him;  he  would  push  the  fork  against 
the  bird's  neck  and  hold  the  creature  off  until 
it  became  discouraged  and  was  willing  to  "be 
good." 

A  cock  ostrich  when  peevish  has  a  disagreeable 
habit  of  running  up  to  a  person,  bowling  him 
over  with  a  blow  of  its  foot,  and  then  dancing  on 
him. 

Unless  a  man  has  one  of  those  forked  poles 
when  he  is  attacked  by  an  ostrich,  he  is  likely 
to  be  seriously  injured  by  the  bird's  powerful 
kicks.  In  such  a  case  the  best  thing  to  do  is  to 
lie  flat  on  the  ground  and  let  yourself  be  trod- 
den on.  You  may  be  pounded  black  and  blue 
and  badly  bruised,  but  even  that  is  better  than 
having  a  fractured  skull,  broken  ribs  or  limbs, 
or  great  gashes  cut  in  your  flesh  by  the  bird's 
strong  feet. 

It  is  the  duty  of  safari  managers  to  warn 
greenhorns  of  the  danger  from  tame  ostriches, 
and  as  one  of  Percival's  birds  was  noted  for  its 
truculent  disposition,  our  party  had  been  prop- 
erly cautioned. 

Unpacking  our  outfit  at  Kapiti,  where  we 


82    AFRICAN  ADVENTURE  STORIES 

made  the  first  camp,  we  remained  there  only 
long  enough  to  put  things  in  working  order  and 
then  rode  across  the  veldt  for  half  a  day  to  Sir 
Alfred  Pease's  ranch. 

All  along  the  route  we  saw  thousands  of  ani- 
mals. It  seemed  impossible  that  in  this  age 
there  could  be  any  spot  on  the  earth  where  ani- 
mal life  was  so  abundant.  Herds  of  zebras, 
hartebeests,  Thompson's  gazelles,  and  wilde- 
beests, in  separate  bands  and  sometimes  min- 
gled together  in  one  great  herd,  were  feeding  on 
all  sides. 

The  wildebeest  is  a  remarkable  animal.  Some 
herds  are  so  shy  that  it  is  almost  impossible  to 
stalk  them.  Others  seem  full  of  a  spirit  of  play- 
fulness and  will  caper  about  a  hunter  as  if  try- 
ing to  induce  him  to  join  them  in  a  frolic. 

Doctor  Mearns  was  once  pursuing,  on  horse- 
back, a  wounded  animal  when  a  herd  of  wilde- 
beests joined  in  the  chase  and  for  half  a  mile 
ran  by  his  side,  tossing  their  heads  in  the  air 
and  bucking  and  kicking  as  if  they  were  thor- 
oughly enjoying  the  hunt. 

It  was  the  dry  season,  and  as  there  was  a 
scarcity  of  water  at  Sir  Alfred's  place  and  his 
shooting-box   was   too   small  to  accommodate 


CHASED  BY  AN  OSTRICH         83 

us  all,  Doctor  Mearns  and  I  and  most  of  the 
porters  camped  at  Potha  River,  about  four  miles 
away. 

Three  quarters  of  a  mile  behind  the  camp 
was  Percival's  place.  In  the  evening  of  our 
first  day  at  Potha  he  came  down  and  asked 
us  to  visit  him  and  see  what  a  typical  East 
African  ranch  was  like.  On  the  way  I  noticed 
numerous  small  earth  mounds  that  looked  as 
if  they  had  been  thrown  up  by  our  Western 
pocket-gophers. 

Now,  my  special  work  with  the  expedition 
was  collecting  small  mammals,  and,  naturally, 
when  I  discovered  these  mounds  I  became  in- 
terested. Early  the  next  morning  I  shouldered 
a  bag  of  steel  traps  and,  with  my  gun  bearer 
carrying  my  rifle  and  shotgun,  made  for  the  spot 
where  I  had  seen  the  gopher  workings  the  eve- 
ning before.  I  wore  a  green  shirt,  which  was 
supposed  to  serve  the  double  purpose  of  being 
invisible  to  animals  and  of  tempering  the  rays 
of  the  powerful  tropical  sun. 

We  arrived  at  the  spot,  about  four  hundred 
yards  from  Percival's  house,  and  I  began  dig- 
ging into  a  burrow  with  a  long  case-knife, 
with  the  intention  of  setting  a  steel  trap  in 


84    AFRICAN  ADVENTURE  STORIES 

the  underground  passageway.  The  animals  live 
a  subterranean  life,  and  appear  above  ground 
only  when,  in  the  course  of  their  work,  they 
break  through  the  surface  in  order  to  push  out 
the  earth  that  they  have  excavated. 

It  was  a  gently  rolling  country,  and  the 
only  trees  in  sight  were  the  scattering  ones 
along  the  edge  of  the  river  where  our  camp 
was  pitched. 

I  had  set  one  trap  and  was  on  my  knees 
digging  into  another  mound.  My  gun  bearer, 
wondering,  no  doubt,  what  new  kind  of  white 
man  I  could  be,  stood  by,  watching  my  ac- 
tions. Glancing  up  from  my  work,  I  noticed 
the  Kikuyu  boy  driving  the  flock  of  ostriches 
from  the  enclosure  and  starting  them  off  to 
pasture. 

Presently  I  heard  him  shout,  and  I  saw  that 
an  enormous  cock-bird  had  left  the  band  and 
was  heading  in  our  direction  in  a  very  signifi- 
cant manner. 

Of  course  I  had  a  gun  and  a  rifle  with  which 
to  protect  myself,  but  the  four  hundred  dollars 
that  I  would  have  to  pay  if  I  shot  the  bird  made 
me  reluctant  to  kill  it. 

I  jumped  to  my  feet  and  looked  in  some 


CHASED  BY  AN  OSTRICH         85 

perplexity  at  the  gun  bearer.  *'What  shall  we 
do?"  I  said.     "Run.?" 

Although  he  could  not  understand  English, 
he  must  have  known  by  my  tone  that  I  was 
asking  a  question,  and  so  he  replied  with  the 
only  English  word  he  knew: 

"Yes." 

I  did  not  wait  to  pick  up  the  bag  of  traps 
but  snatched  the  shotgun.  The  gun  bearer 
grabbed  the  rifle,  and  off  we  started.  It  was 
fully  half  a  mile  over  the  gently  rolling  veldt 
to  camp,  and  it  seemed  that  the  great  bird 
would  easily  overhaul  us  before  we  could  reach 
it,  but  the  thought  of  the  four  hundred  dollars 
stimulated  me  to  my  top  speed.  Yet  I  did  not 
dare  to  throw  away  the  shotgun. 

We  had  a  lead  of  three  hundred  yards.  At 
intervals  I  looked  back  over  my  shoulder  and 
saw  the  ostrich  swinging  over  the  ground  at  a 
graceful  trot;  his  wings  were  half  raised,  and 
at  every  step  his  body  rose  and  sank  as  if  it 
were  resting  on  springs. 

A  herd  of  about  twenty-five  wildebeests 
were  just  ahead  of  us.  When  they  saw  us  bear- 
ing down  on  them  they  divided  to  let  us  pass. 
Then  they  lined  up  on  each  side,  about  a  hun- 


86    AFRICAN  ADVENTURE  STORIES 

dred  yards  away,  and  dashed  along  parallel 
with  us,  tossing  their  heads,  bucking  and  frisk- 
ing, and  evidently  taking  a  deep  interest  in  the 
race. 

It  was  plain  that  the  ostrich  was  not  exerting 
himself.  Perhaps  he  thought  it  would  be  more 
fun  to  run  us  down  and  tire  us  out  than  to  end 
the  race  by  a  sudden  burst  of  speed.  With 
each  stride  his  feet  reached  out  like  those  of  a 
race-horse,  and  as  he  drew  near  I  saw  that  his 
bill  was  half  open.  With  his  extremely  small 
head  mounted  on  his  snakelike  neck,  his  open 
mouth  gave  him  an  idiotic  appearance. 

When  he  was  within  forty  or  fifty  yards  of  us 
he  suddenly  began  surging  back  and  forth,  and 
it  seemed  that  I  could  read  his  thoughts: 

"I've  got  you.     You  can't  get  away." 

And  he  did  have  us.  But  the  ridiculousness 
of  our  position,  together  with  a  nearer  view  of 
the  green  shirt  that  I  wore,  seemed  to  intox- 
icate him  with  ecstasy;  the  foolish  old  bird 
threw  himself  flat  on  the  ground,  lifted  his 
wings  over  his  back,  and  began  rocking  from 
side  to  side  and  twisting  his  head  and  neck 
about  as  if  he  were  ready  to  burst  with  laughter. 

How  long  he  continued  to  act  so  I  do  not 


CHASED  BY  AN  OSTRICH         87 

know;  I  was  too  busy  watching  for  the  green 
covers  of  the  tents  to  loom  up  ahead.  But  I 
do  know  that  we  put  two  hundred  yards  be- 
tween us  and  the  bird  before  he  again  started 
after  us.  We  were  so  near  the  camp  that  the 
wildebeests  had  veered  off  and  now  stood  watch- 
ing from  a  safe  distance  the  finish  of  the  race. 

When,  at  last,  we  came  within  shouting  dis- 
tance of  the  tents  I  tried  to  call,  but  I  was  so 
thoroughly  out  of  breath  that  I  could  hardly 
make  a  sound.  I  turned  to  the  gun  bearer  and 
by  signs  made  him  understand  that  I  wished 
him  to  attract  attention.  He  shouted  long  and 
loud. 

The  porters  came  swarming  from  their  tents, 
and  the  uproar  of  laughter  that  broke  from 
the  crowd  still  rings  in  my  ears.  Not  one  of 
them  offered  to  come  to  our  assistance;  they 
just  stood  there  and  laughed.  Cuninghame, 
however,  darted  back  into  his  tent  and  reap- 
peared with  a  large  towel.  Running  toward 
us,  he  waved  the  towel  in  front  of  him  as  if  to 
flag  the  bird  or  to  announce  to  us  that  the 
race  was  over  and  that  we  had  won  the  prize 
of  four  hundred  dollars. 

As  we  entered  the  camp,  amid  the  uproar- 


88    AFRICAN  ADVENTURE  STORIES 

ious  mirth  of  the  child-Hke  porters,  the  ostrich 
trotted  up  to  within  twenty  yards  of  the  tents, 
threw  himself  on  the  ground,  and  again  repeated 
the  antics  that  he  had  gone  through  a  few  min- 
utes before.  Finally  he  tired  of  it,  and  rising, 
began  feeding  about  the  veldt  as  if  nothing  had 
happened.  Soon  his  keeper  appeared  and  drove 
him  back  to  the  flock. 

During  the  rest  of  the  trip  I  was  constantly 
reminded  of  that  experience  and  time  and 
again  was  obliged  to  tell  the  story.  But  what 
wounded  my  sensitive  feelings  most  was  to 
have  Sir  Alfred  Pease  ludicrously  cartoon  the 
episode  and  ask  me  to  inscribe  beneath  it  my 
feelings  at  the  time  and  then  to  sign  my  name! 


CHAPTER  VII 

MAULED   BY   AN   ELEPHANT 

^LL  day  the  sun  had  been  beating  down 
/■^  upon  us,  one  hundred  and  ten  degrees 
strong.  As  I  sat  in  my  tent  on  the 
shore  of  that  wonderful  Lake  Albert  which  Sir 
Samuel  W.  Baker  discovered  on  March  14, 1864, 
there  was  naught  in  the  climate  or  the  coun- 
try to  remind  me  of  the  winter  they  were  having 
back  in  York  State  save  the  gentle  tinMing  noise, 
made  by  the  myriads  of  frogs  or  toads,  that 
sounded  like  distant  sleigh-bells. 

We  were  due  at  Butiaba  the  day  before  but 
were  detained  a  day  by  waiting  at  the  last  camp 
to  secure  the  tusks  and  feet  of  an  ugly  old 
"rogue"  elephant  that  Colonel  Roosevelt  had 
killed  at  the  earnest  solicitation  of  the  natives. 

The  hunters  had  come  upon  the  brute  in  the 
tall  grass,  and,  true  to  the  chief's  warning,  it 
charged  the  instant  that  it  saw  them  and  before 
a  shot  had  been  fired. 

As  we  marched  into  Butiaba  we  were  met 
by  Captain  Hutchison,  who  congratulated  the 

89 


90    AFRICAN  ADVENTURE  STORIES 

colonel  on  his  recent  feat,  adding  that  escape 
from  a  charging  elephant  of  any  kind,  and  par- 
ticularly a  "rogue,"  deserved  congratulations, 
as  he  could  testify  from  a  certain  "close  call" 
he  once  had  in  elephant  hunting. 

"Now,  captain,"  spoke  up  the  colonel,  "I 
feel  sure  that  you  have  an  interesting  story  to 
relate;  so  please  give  it  to  us  at  once." 

"Well,  it  was  a  bit  awkward,  I  must  admit," 
began  the  captain,  "and  so  upset  me  that  I 
have  never  'taken  on'  an  elephant  since. 

"I  had  been  out  ivory  hunting  for  some  time, 
and,  while  we  found  elephants,  they  were  all 
small  animals  or  cows  with  calves.  One  morn- 
ing we  struck  a  bunch  in  which,  judging  from 
the  enormous  track,  there  was  an  immense 
tusker,  well  worth  following.  Sending  word 
back  to  camp  for  my  men  to  pull  stakes  imme- 
diately and  come  after  us,  for  one  is  never  sure 
how  many  days  he  may  have  to  follow  a  herd, 
I  struck  out  in  pursuit  of  them. 

"The  tracks  were  made  several  hours  before, 
and  evidently  there  were  about  twenty  elephants 
in  the  bunch.  They  were  travelling  at  a  good 
rate,  and  we  hoped  that  they  would  stop  to 
feed  late  in  the  afternoon. 


MAULED  BY  AN  ELEPHANT       91 

"Elephants  may  look  slow  and  clumsy  in 
captivity,  but  when  they  are  walking  at  an 
ordinary  gait  a  person  must  step  along  at 
almost  a  dog-trot  in  order  to  overhaul  them. 
It  was  about  ten  o'clock  when  we  took  the 
*  spoor  *  *  and  we  knew  that  we  were  starting  on 
a  journey  of  at  least  twenty  miles.  The  trail 
was  not  hard  to  keep,  for  a  herd  of  twenty 
elephants  following  single  file  through  the  ten- 
foot  elephant-grass  makes  more  than  a  well- 
worn  path. 

"As  they  marched  along  they  had  amused 
themselves  by  snatching  a  bunch  of  grass  and 
tossing  it  aside;  then,  as  they  had  passed  through 
a  grove  of  thorn-trees,  they  had  broken  off 
limbs  and  dragged  them  a  hundred  yards  or 
more  before  dropping  them.  Several  times  one 
had  halted  long  enough  to  dig  a  hole  in  the 
ground  three  or  four  feet  in  diameter  with  his 
tusks,  and  then  we  saw  where  he  had  galloped 
on  to  overtake  his  comrades.  Once  they  gave 
us  an  advantage  by  stopping  for  some  time  to 
wallow  in  a  water-hole,  and  as  they  emerged 
they  rubbed  their  bodies  against  the  first  trees 
they  passed,  leaving  the  mud  plastered  ten  feet 

*  A  sign  of  any  kind. 


92    AFRICAN  ADVENTURE  STORIES 

high  on  the  bark.  These  and  other  signs,  grow- 
ing fresher  and  fresher  all  the  time,  told  us  that 
we  were  slowly  overtaking  our  game. 

"About  noon  we  surmised  that,  if  the  ele- 
phants were  still  travelling,  we  must  be  within 
five  miles  of  them;  but,  as  it  was  feeding  time, 
I  thought  it  practical  to  send  my  best  tracker 
ahead  to  reconnoitre,  while  we  followed  more 
slowly.  In  a  short  time  he  returned  and  re- 
ported that  he  had  overhauled  the  herd  feed- 
ing in  a  grove  of  thorn-trees,  of  which  they  are 
particularly  fond.  They  were  breaking  off  the 
branches,  digging  up  the  roots  with  their  tusks, 
and  then  pushing  the  trees  over  with  their  heads 
or  pulUng  them  down  with  their  trunks.  Al- 
though he  had  not  seen  the  big  fellow,  there 
was  no  doubt  that  it  was  somewhere  in  the 
group. 

"By  the  time  we  had  arrived  they  had 
passed  out  of  the  grove  and  were  again  in  the 
elephant-grass,  which,  owing  to  its  height  and 
density,  made  it  impossible  for  us  to  see  them. 
Even  when  we  mounted  an  ant-hill  the  growth 
was  so  tall  that  we  got  only  an  occasional 
glimpse  of  a  back  or  of  a  few  snake-like  trunks 
waving  about  in  the  air.     The  wind  was  scarcely 


MAULED  BY  AN  ELEPHANT       93 

in  our  favour;  so  we  circled  them  to  a  large  tree, 
and  I  sent  one  of  the  boys  up  to  see  if  he  could 
locate  the  big  tusker. 

"We  watched  him  for  several  minutes  as 
from  his  lofty  perch  he  scanned  the  country. 
Presently  he  pointed  off  to  the  right,  and  from 
his  signs  we  read  that  there  were  two  tusk- 
ers with  good  ivory,  one  rather  small,  but  the 
other  the  grandfather  of  all  the  elephants  with 
mighty  tusks.  I  beckoned  the  man  down,  and 
there,  under  the  tree  in  whispered  conversa- 
tion, we  planned  the  attack. 

"Our  prize  was  on  the  far  side  of  the  herd 
and  in  such  a  position  that,  should  we  attempt 
to  stalk  him,  there  would  be  risk  of  some  of 
the  elephants  catching  the  scent  and  giving  the 
alarm.  Nothing  could  be  done,  therefore,  but 
to  keep  watch  until  he  had  worked  around  to  a 
more  favourable  position. 

"Again  the  boy  ascended  the  tree,  and  as 
we  lay  upon  the  ground  about  the  base  we 
could  hear  the  elephants  ripping  up  the  grass. 
It  was  probably  half  an  hour  before  the  boy 
again  descended  and  reported  that  the  ele- 
phants were  working  our  way,  and  it  would  be 
dangerous  to  remain  there  longer.     So  we  took 


94    AFRICAN  ADVENTURE  STORIES 

up  a  new  position  on  an  unusually  large  ant-hill, 
several  hundred  yards  to  the  left,  and  awaited 
developments. 

"At  last  the  long-looked-for  time  arrived,  for 
the  tusker  was  on  the  outskirts  of  the  herd, 
and  the  wind  was  favourable.  We  circled  to  his 
side  and  stealthily  drew  near — my  gun  bearer, 
tracker,  and  myself — while  the  other  boys  re- 
mained in  the  rear. 

"The  tall  grass  prevented  us  from  even 
catching  a  glimpse  of  the  beasts,  but  it  was 
easy  to  locate  them  by  the  noise  they  made 
while  feeding.  My  gun  bearer  assured  me  that 
the  brute  I  wanted  was  one  of  three  not  more 
than  fifty  yards  away. 

"We  held  to  the  elephant  trails,  as  no  one 
could  penetrate  that  jungle  of  grass  and  travel 
silently.  Next  to  silence  we  had  to  watch  the 
vind,  for,  once  the  animals  caught  our  scent, 
tJiey  would  either  dash  away  or  charge,  prob- 
ably the  latter. 

"So  far  our  plans  had  worked  out  admirably; 
the  elephants,  unconscious  of  our  presence,  were 
still  tearing  up  the  grass  directly  in  our  front, 
while  my  boys  and  myself  proceeded  inch  by 
inch  and  strained  our  eyes  to  catch  sight  of 


MAULED  BY  AN  ELEPHANT       95 

the  brutes.  These  boys  had  been  my  compan- 
ions on  many  an  elephant  hunt,  and  I  had  the 
utmost  confidence  in  them,  knowing  well  that, 
if  it  were  necessary,  they  would  not  hesitate  to 
give  up  their  lives  to  save  mine. 

"I  don't  care  how  many  elephants  a  man 
may  have  encountered,  while  he  is  sneaking 
upon  his  game  a  feeling  of  uneasiness  steals 
over  him  until  the  critical  moment  arrives;  then 
things  happen  so  quickly  and  his  brain  works 
so  rapidly  that  all  sense  of  fear  is  for  the  mo- 
ment lost. 

"With  both  hammers  of  my  rifle  raised,  I 
cautiously  sneaked  nearer  and  nearer,  my  faith- 
ful boys  following  at  my  very  heels.  At  last 
we  were  within  fifty  feet  of  the  elephant,  and 
as  he  moved  toward  me  I  could  see  the  top  of 
the  grass  swaying  violently  from  side  to  side. 
Suddenly  fate  turned  against  us,  for  a  shifting 
current  of  air  must  have  warned  the  brute  of 
danger.  I  saw  a  huge  trunk  rise  above  the 
grass,  heard  a  shrill,  deafening  trumpet,  and 
knew  that  the  fight  was  on.  The  grass  parted 
as  though  a  snow-plough  were  being  driven 
through  it,  and  the  next  instant  there  loomed 
up,  not  twenty  feet  away,  a  monster  head  with 


96    AFRICAN  ADVENTURE  STORIES 

wing-like  ears  protruding  on  either  side  like 
the  sails  on  a  dhow.  Two  shiny  tusks  of  ivory, 
fully  six  feet  long,  were  pointed  at  my  chest, 
and  the  towering  trunk  between  them  gave 
the  head  a  fiendish  look  not  often  found  outside 
of  Hades.  The  other  elephants  took  up  the 
trumpeting,  and  the  uproar  was  appalling. 

"My  rifle  was  at  my  shoulder  from  the  second 
the  brute  began  his  charge,  and  the  instant 
that  he  hove  in  sight  I  fired  both  barrels  point- 
blank  into  his  face.  Without  a  second's  hesi- 
tation I  reached  back  to  my  gun  bearer  for  the 
*450'  and  brought  it  to  position.  Immense 
though  the  brute  was,  he  looked  three  times  his 
normal  size  as  I  cast  my  eyes  along  the  bar- 
rels levelled  at  his  head  not  five  feet  away.  I 
pressed  one  trigger,  then  the  other,  but  there  was 
no  report,  and  with  a  feeling  of  horror  I  real- 
ised that  my  gun  bearer,  in  the  excitement  of  the 
moment,  had  failed  to  raise  the  hammers. 

"Before  I  could  lower  the  rifle  from  my 
shoulder  the  brute  was  upon  me!  With  a 
scream  of  rage  he  twined  his  trunk  about  my 
body  and,  lifting  me  high  above  his  head, 
brandished  me  about  in  the  air  as  though  I 
were  a  feather.    Every  instant  I  expected  to  be 


THE  GRASS  PARTED  AS  THOUGH  A  SNOW-PLOUGH  WERE 
BEING  DRIVEN  THROUGH  IT 


MAULED  BY  AN  ELEPHANT       97 

hurled  fifty  feet  or  more  through  space,  which 
I  welcomed  as  the  only  possible  likelihood  of 
escape.  But  no;  at  that  moment  I  struck  the 
ground  with  a  thud.  Three  times  I  was  lifted 
high  and  brought  crashing  through  the  grass 
to  earth.  The  last  time  the  elephant  uncoiled 
his  trunk  and  left  me  lying  there,  stunned  and 
dazed  and  staring  blankly  into  his  wicked  little 
eyes,  now  hot  with  rage. 

"Then,  dropping  to  his  knees  before  me,  he 
knelt  there  hesitating,  as  though  to  give  me 
time  to  deliberate  before  the  end  should  come. 
But  he  did  not  keep  me  waiting  long,  for  slowly 
the  two  great  tusks  began  descending.  With 
all  my  waning  strength  I  threw  my  body  snug 
up  against  his  bending  knees,  and  the  tusks 
passed  harmlessly  over  me,  just  grazing  my 
back,  and  tore  great  holes  in  the  earth  be- 
yond. Again  the  ponderous  head  was  raised, 
and  again  his  tusks  bore  down  upon  me  and 
probed  deeply  into  the  earth. 

"Evidently  the  animal  had  been  somewhat 
bhnded  by  my  shots,  for,  assuming  that  he  had 
done  his  work,  he  started  to  rise,  and  as  he 
did  so  the  sudden  thought  came  over  me  that 
he  would  probably  attempt  to  trample  me  to 


98   AFRICAN  ADVENTURE  STORIES 

death,  the  usual  method  that  an  elephant  em- 
ploys to  obliterate  an  enemy.  So,  as  he  slowly 
rose,  in  some  unaccountable  manner  I  managed 
to  scramble  between  his  forefeet  and,  working 
back,  seized  hold  of  his  hind  foot. 

"Once  more  I  felt  the  snake-like  trunk  being 
wound  around  me;  next  I  was  being  waved 
about  over  the  grass  top — then  the  ground 
seemed  suddenly  to  rise  and  meet  me,  and  I 
lost  consciousness.  How  many  times  I  was 
hammered  on  the  ground  I  do  not  know. 

"Three  hours  later  I  came  to  and  found  my- 
self in  camp  and  my  boys  dashing  water  into 
my  face.  When  I  opened  my  eyes  I  saw  the 
gun  bearer  holding  a  smoking  rifle  in  his  hands. 
He  had  just  returned  from  the  scene  of  my 
mauling  and  brought  in  my  rifles,  one  of  which 
he  had  attempted  to  unload  and  in  some  man- 
ner had  accidentally  discharged.  The  explo- 
sion had  no  doubt  assisted  to  revive  me. 

"My  men  told  me  that  my  life  was  saved  by 
the  quick  action  of  my  tracker,  who  appeared  on 
the  scene  with  a  spear  at  about  the  time  that  I 
lost  consciousness  and,  rushing  in,  plunged  the 
spear  into  the  elephant's  side.  Leaving  me, 
the  animal  took  after  its  new  tormentor,  but 


MAULED  BY  AN  ELEPHANT       99 

the  agile  native,  twisting  and  doubling  in  the 
thick  grass,  managed  finally  to  escape.  The 
elephant  had  devastated  the  grass,  bushes,  and 
small  trees  in  his  search  for  the  man  and,  for- 
tunately, had  not  returned  to  me. 

"While  it  is  undoubtedly  true  that  the  na- 
tive's action  had  much  to  do  with  saving  me, 
one  reason  why  I  was  not  dashed  to  death 
lies  in  the  fact  that  an  elephant's  trunk  is  the 
tenderest  part  of  his  body,  and,  being  twined 
about  me,  it  received  the  brunt  of  the  blow 
each  time  that  I  struck  the  ground,  and  evi- 
dently the  pain  kept  the  animal  from  using  the 
force  necessary  to  kill  me. 

*'As  a  result  of  that  mauling,  I  was  laid  up 
for  six  weeks  before  I  was  well  enough  to  hob- 
ble about  again. 

"That  elephant  may  be  alive  at  this  present 
moment,  for  all  I  know.  My  native  attendants 
were  too  terror-stricken  over  the  outcome  of  the 
hunt  to  give  the  brute  any  further  attention 
after  I  was  mauled;  so  no  one  followed  him  up 
to  discover  what  damage  my  shots  had  done. 
Judging  from  the  amount  of  vigour  that  was 
left  in  his  great  hulk  at  the  time  he  put  me  to 
sleep,  he  could  not  have  been  seriously  wounded. 


100     AFRICAN  ADVENTURE  STORIES 

"Well,  as  I  have  said,  colonel,"  concluded 
Captain  Hutchison,  "that  hunt  used  up  my 
stock  of  courage,  and  I  doubt  if  I  shall  ever 
*take  on'  another  elephant,  unless  in  self- 
defence." 


CHAPTER  VIII 

"jacking"  animals 

A  NY  one  who  has  toured  through  the  country 
/-\  at  night  in  an  automobile  with  bright 
headUghts  must  have  noticed  how  bril- 
liantly a  stray  cat's  eyes  shine  when  the  lamps' 
rays  strike  them  squarely.  The  members  of  the 
Roosevelt  African  expedition  made  use  of  this 
fact  to  secure  specimens  of  the  nocturnal  ani- 
mals that  otherwise  could  not  have  been  so 
easily  collected. 

The  time  was  when  deer  were  hunted  in  the 
Adirondack  Mountains  in  much  the  same  man- 
ner, but  it  has  long  since  been  stopped  by  law 
on  the  ground  that  it  was  unsportsmanhke. 
Be  that  as  it  may,  "jacking"  animals  in  Africa 
is  an  entirely  different  proposition,  especially 
when  one's  main  object  is  to  secure  the  speci- 
mens for  scientific  purposes.  We  were  there  for 
specimens,  and  it  made  no  difference  in  what 
manner  they  were  procured  so  long  as  torture 

was  not  resorted  to. 

101 


102     AFRICAN  ADVENTURE  STORIES 

So  far  as  sport  is  concerned,  there  is  very  little 
sport  in  collecting  most  specimens,  anyhow;  it 
is  not  the  killing  of  a  creature  that  delights  the 
field  naturalist,  it  is  the  specimen  itself — the 
knowledge  that  science  has  been  enriched  by 
another  skin  and  the  hope  that  that  skin  will 
be  the  means  of  adding  a  new  species  to  the 
world's  nomenclature  or  that  some  new  and 
interesting  fact  will  be  revealed. 

"Jacking"  animals  in  a  country  where  there 
is  no  danger  to  the  sportsman  may  be  un- 
sportsmanlike from  an  animal's  point  of  view, 
but  "jacking"  animals  at  night  in  the  land  of 
the  rhinoceros  and  man-eating  lion  is  not  only 
risky  but  many  of  our  African  acquaintances 
pronounced  it  foolhardy. 

We  used  an  ordinary  acetylene  bicycle  lamp 
and  never  went  out  until  it  was  pitch  dark;  in 
fact,  the  blacker  the  night  the  better  the  chance 
of  success.  On  moonlight  nights  the  light  does 
not  penetrate  so  far  and  the  animals  can  detect 
danger  more  quickly. 

Naivasha,  where  we  did  most  of  our  night 
hunting,  is  a  hamlet  of  about  a  dozen  houses 
situated  in  a  tract  of  country  similar,  in  a  way, 
to  the  deserts  of  Texas,  New  Mexico,  Arizona, 


"JACKING"  ANIMALS  103 

southern  California,  Colorado,  and  Utah.  Every 
night  hyenas  and  jackals  prowled  about  the 
garbage  piles,  and  as  we  lay  in  bed  we  could 
hear  them  howling  and  barking  and  occasion- 
ally also  the  deep,  grunting  moans  of  a  lion  in 
the  rocky  hills  a  mile  or  so  away. 

Kermit  Roosevelt  originated  this  new  form 
of  night  hunting,  and  the  first  night  he  killed 
several  springhaas. 

The  springhaas — Dutch  for  jumping  hare — 
is  an  animal  about  the  size  of  a  jack-rabbit 
but  shaped  more  like  a  wallaby  or  a  kangaroo. 
Its  front  legs  are  short,  while  its  hind  ones  are 
long  and  used  for  jumping.  Its  ears,  too,  are 
long,  like  those  of  a  kangaroo,  and  its  move- 
ments and  mode  of  locomotion  are  almost  iden- 
tical. Its  upper  parts  are  red,  or  reddish,  and 
its  under-parts  whitish,  while  its  tail — very  long 
— is  well  haired  and  has  a  "brush"  at  the  end. 
The  springhaas  lives  in  colonies  in  holes  in  the 
ground,  like  a  prairie-dog,  and  each  pair,  or 
family,  has  its  individual  burrow.  It  is  truly 
a  nocturnal  rodent — a  gnawing  animal — and  if 
ever  seen  in  daylight  it  is  just  after  a  shower  or 
when  the  sky  is  deeply  overcast. 

Kermit's  success  spurred  Doctor  Mearns  and 


104     AFRICAN  ADVENTURE  STORIES 

myself  to  try  our  luck.  So  one  dark  night 
about  nine  o'clock  we  shouldered  an  Ithaca 
shotgun  and,  with  the  bicycle  lamp,  sallied 
forth. 

We  struck  out  across  the  quarter-mile,  unin- 
habited flat  between  the  hotel  and  the  railroad 
station,  intending  then  to  turn  to  the  right 
toward  the  hills.  Springhaas's  burrows  were 
numerous  and  we  had  hope  of  finding  a  spring- 
haas  before  we  reached  the  station. 

I  walked  ahead  and  carried  the  light,  which  I 
kept  casting  about  from  side  to  side  as  we 
slowly  walked  along.  Not  a  word  was  spoken. 
The  lantern  cast  a  V-shaped  ray  over  the  hard, 
sandy,  brush-covered  flat. 

Suddenly,  out  of  the  inky  darkness,  there 
sprang,  like  magic,  two  balls  of  fire  the  size  of 
a  five-cent  piece  and  about  three  inches  apart. 
My  heart  gave  a  leap  and  for  a  few  seconds  I 
stood  petrified,  forgetting  entirely  the  object  of 
my  presence.  The  next  instant  I  came  to  my 
senses  and,  turning  to  the  doctor,  whispered: 

"There's  one!  Give  me  the  gun  quick!  Here! 
you  take  the  lantern  and  hold  it  on  him  and 
I'll  shoot!" 

The  doctor  took  the  lamp  and  turned  it  again 


"JACKING"  ANIMALS  105 

upon  the  fiery  balls,  which  in  my  excitement  I 
had  neglected  to  keep  within  the  rays.  Not 
even  the  outline  of  the  animal  could  be  seen, 
simply  those  two  balls  of  fire.  I  had  no  idea 
how  far  away  the  creature  was.  I  raised  the 
gun  to  fire,  but  could  not  even  see  the  barrels 
much  less  the  sight,  so  I  pointed  in  that  general 
direction  and  pulled  the  trigger. 

Not  a  breath  of  air  stirred  and  the  gun  roared 
like  a  cannon.  Instantly  the  two  glowing  balls 
disappeared  and  some  animal  let  out  an  awful 
yowl.  Without  waiting  for  the  lamp,  I  ran  at 
top  speed,  leaving  the  doctor  far  in  the  rear. 
As  soon  as  I  reached  the  spot  where  I  judged  the 
animal  should  be,  if  my  aim  had  been  true,  I 
began  to  search  about,  but,  having  gazed  for  so 
long  into  the  glare,  I  could  not  see.  Soon  my 
eyes  became  accustomed  to  the  darkness  and  I 
thought  I  saw  a  movement  a  little  to  the  left. 
Jumping  to  the  spot,  I  gave  a  kick.  Again 
the  creature  began  to  yowl  and  started  off, 
but  it  had  taken  only  a  few  steps  when  I 
jumped  on  it  and  began  shouting  for  the  doctor. 

What  the  thing  was  I  could  not  tell.  That 
it  was  not  a  springhaas  I  felt  certain,  for  it  was 
too  large  and  its  cries  were  not  those  of  a  jump- 


106     AFRICAN  ADVENTURE  STORIES 

ing  hare.  Quickened  by  my  cries  and  those  of 
the  animal,  the  doctor  soon  came  up  with  the 
light,  and  found  me  waltzing  about  on  the  hurri- 
cane-deck of  a  large  grey  fox,  for  all  the  world 
a  prototype  of  our  American  grey  or  "woods 
grey"  fox.  Why  it  did  not  bite  my  legs  I  can- 
not understand.  We  put  it  out  of  its  misery 
immediately  and  were  greatly  pleased  with  our 
success  so  early  in  the  hunt. 

It  would  be  a  serious  breach  of  a  field  natu- 
ralist's etiquette  not  to  mention  that  this  fox 
proved  to  be  a  new  species,  and  was  named  by 
Doctor  Miller,  of  the  National  Museum,  Otocyon 
virgatus. 

We  both  realised  that  killing  animals  in  this 
manner  was  all  luck,  and  that  in  order  to  make 
our  aim  true  every  time  we  must  devise  some 
way  of  casting  the  light  along  the  gun-barrels  so 
as  to  reveal  the  sight.  After  a  little  experi- 
menting we  found  that  by  holding  the  lantern  in 
the  left  hand  and  resting  the  gun  on  our  wrist 
we  could  twist  the  lantern  so  that  the  rays  would 
strike  the  barrels  and  show  the  animal's  eyes  at 
the  same  time.  Aiming,  then,  was  quite  as  easy 
as  in  broad  daylight. 

Having  but  one  lantern,  it  was  now  the  doc- 


"JACKING"  ANIMALS  107 

tor's  turn  to  show  his  skill,  so  I  carried  the  fox 
while  he  prospected  about  for  more  eyes.  We 
had  gone  only  a  short  distance  when  we  "picked 
up"  a  pair  of  eyes,  and  the  doctor  let  fly  and 
shot  a  springhaas. 

We  did  not  get  back  to  the  hotel  until  after 
midnight,  and  during  the  time  killed  four  more 
springhaas.  This  trip  proved  to  be  more  of  a 
lesson  than  a  hunt.  We  learned  many  things 
of  interest,  and,  although  we  missed  several 
shots,  we  always  profited  by  the  loss. 

We  found  springhaas  singly,  in  pairs,  or  in 
groups  of  three  to  five,  and  sometimes  several 
pairs  of  eyes  could  be  seen  within  the  radius 
of  the  lamp. 

At  first  our  eagerness  to  secure  the  animals 
led  us  to  shoot  before  we  were  within  range,  and 
it  was  some  time  before  we  were  able  to  judge 
the  distance  accurately.  Perhaps  we  would  be 
near  enough  the  instant  the  light  revealed  the 
animal.  Sometimes  the  springhaas  would  be- 
come suspicious;  then  we  had  to  follow  it  about 
the  flat  before  we  could  get  a  shot. 

After  the  novelty  wore  off  and  we  saw  that 
we  would  easily  secure  all  the  specimens  we  re- 
quired, we  began  to   study  the  animals   more 


108     AFRICAN  ADVENTURE  STORIES 

and  to  see  how  near  we  really  could  approach 
them.  Rarely  did  we  get  so  near  that  the  whole 
outUne  of  the  animal  could  be  seen,  but  once  or 
twice  one  allowed  us  to  walk  within  ten  feet  of 
it.  There  it  posed  like  a  miniature  kangaroo, 
raising  and  dropping  its  head  in  a  nervous, 
jerky  manner  as  though  puzzled  by  the  glare. 
The  dazzling  light,  of  course,  prevented  the  crea- 
tures from  seeing  us  behind  the  lamp,  and,  as  we 
made  no  more  noise  than  possible,  it  was  prob- 
ably just  as  difficult  for  them  to  tell  how  far 
away  we  were  as  it  was  for  us  to  gauge  their 
distance  from  us. 

It  was  a  strange  fact,  that  while  the  person 
who  held  the  lamp  could  easily  see  the  eyes  of 
an  animal  when  the  light  shone  directly  into 
them,  a  companion  standing  by  his  side  or  look- 
ing over  his  shoulder  was  usually  unable  to 
distinguish  a  thing.  Finally,  however,  our  eyes 
became  so  keen  that  when  we  missed  a  shot,  we 
could  often  see  the  faint  side-light  glimmer  from 
the  eyes  as  the  animal  dashed  away. 

This  *' jacking"  was  extremely  interesting 
from  one  point  of  view.  We  found  that  at  night 
the  diurnal  life  had  been  replaced  by  an  entirely 
different  fauna.     For  instance,  during  the  day 


"JACKING"  ANIMALS  109 

we  did  not  see  a  single  springhaas  or  a  white- 
tailed  mongoose  and  only  one  fox,  but  while 
"jacking,"  we  killed  several  mongooses,  six  or 
eight  foxes,  and  a  fine  series  of  springhaas, 
besides  seeing  many  more  of  each. 

Difficult  as  it  might  seem,  it  was  not  long 
before  we  were  able  to  tell  the  different  species 
of  animals  by  their  eyes  and  their  actions.  The 
constant  bobbing  motion  of  the  springhaas 
identified  them  at  once.  The  foxes  would  peer 
at  the  light,  then  the  glare  was  lost  as  they  turned 
their  heads  and  looked  away,  but  a  second  later 
it  appeared  again.  Then  we  would  lose  it  en- 
tirely; but  by  shifting  the  light  from  right  to 
left  or  by  advancing  a  few  steps,  we  would  again 
pick  up  the  eyes  shining  at  us  from  another 
quarter.  The  foxes  were  harder  to  approach 
and  were  very  restless,  and  gometimes  we  were 
obliged  to  follow  one  about  for  half  an  hour 
before  we  could  get  a  shot. 

We  discovered  springhaas  and  foxes  living 
amicably  together.  Foxes  are  perfectly  able  to 
kill  jumping  hare  and  quite  probably  do  at 
times;  nevertheless  we  "  shone"  the  eyes  of  both 
of  these  animals  at  the  same  time,  showing  that 
they  must  have  been  standing  within   a  few 


110     AFRICAN  ADVENTURE  STORIES 

yards,  if  not  feet,  of  each  other.  We  examined 
the  stomachs  of  all  the  foxes  we  killed  and  in- 
variably found  them  filled  to  bursting  point 
with  the  queer  insects  erroneously  called  "flying 
ants."  These  insects  live  in  holes  in  the  ground, 
and  at  this  time  of  the  year,  on  cloudy  days  and 
after  dark,  emerge  in  a  steady  stream,  so  foxes 
have  little  diflBculty  supplying  their  wants. 

Tin  cans,  pieces  of  tin,  and  pieces  of  glass 
shone  quite  as  brightly  as  animals'  eyes,  and 
while  they  deceived  us  many  times  before  we 
had  had  much  experience,  we  never  blundered 
to  the  extent  of  firing  at  them. 

Mr.  Cherry  Kearton,  England's  famous  na- 
ture photographer,  was  working  at  Naivasha 
at  the  time  of  our  visit.  He  was  anxious  to  get 
a  flash-light  photograph  of  a  springhaas  and 
I  told  him  that  I  thought  it  might  be  accom- 
phshed. 

He  had  an  electrical,  flash-light  contrivance 
rigged  up  on  a  pole  with  wires,  batteries,  and 
buckles.  This  he  strapped  about  the  waist  of 
his  assistant,  Jimmy  Clark,  who,  when  every- 
thing was  in  readiness,  ignited  the  flash  by  press- 
ing a  button. 

It  took  about  half  an  hour  to  get  Jimmy 


"JACKING"  ANIMALS  111 

properly  harnessed  to  the  apparatus,  and  then 
we  started  out.  It  was  agreed  that  I  should 
carry  the  lamp  and  walk  ahead  and  find  a 
springhaas,  and  when  we  got  within  fifteen  feet 
of  it,  Kearton,  who  was  close  by,  should  focus 
the  camera  on  the  brute,  give  the  signal  to 
Clark  following  behind,  and  he  would  then 
press  the  button,  explode  the  flash,  and  the 
picture  would  be  taken. 

We  had  proceeded  only  a  few  yards  when  I 
discovered  the  eyes  of  a  springhaas  about  a 
hundred  feet  away  and  called  Kearton's  atten- 
tion to  them.  He  made  some  reply  that  led 
me  to  suppose  that  he,  too,  saw  them,  and  we 
began  to  stalk  the  animal.  We  had  gone  but 
a  few  feet  when  Kearton  knelt  low  over  his 
camera  and  began  to  focus.  Puzzled  at  his 
action,  for  we  were  too  far  away  for  a  photo- 
graph, I  was  about  to  remonstrate,  when  glanc- 
ing down  I  saw  the  single  glare  of  a  piece  of 
tin  not  ten  feet  from  the  camera.  Before  I 
could  give  the  warning,  Kearton  had  signalled  to 
Clark  to  press  the  button.  There  was  a  dull 
roar  and  a  blinding  flash. 

*'I  have  him!  I  have  him!"  shouted  the  ex- 
cited photographer. 


112     AFRICAN  ADVENTURE  STORIES 

I  stepped  forward  and  turned  the  light  full 
in  the  face  of  an  innocent-looking  tin  can. 

In  print  it  may  not  sound  funny,  but  the  elab- 
orate preparations  that  had  been  made  and  the 
stealth  with  which  we  stalked  the  supposed  ani- 
mal added  to  the  ridiculousness  of  the  situation, 
and  it  was  some  time  before  we  recovered  our 
composure.  I  met  Kearton  in  New  York  three 
years  later  and  he  still  clung  to  the  belief  that 
it  was  a  concocted  scheme. 

Colonel  Roosevelt  went  out  with  us  one 
night.  He  was  greatly  handicapped  by  poor 
eyesight  and  missed  several  shots,  but  he  soon 
caught  on  to  the  trick  and  then  had  better  luck. 

As  we  groped  about  in  the  darkness,  the 
colonel  with  the  gun.  Doctor  Meams  with  a 
gunny  sack  in  which  to  put  the  game,  and  I 
with  the  light,  the  party  had  all  the  earmarks 
of  a  chicken-stealing  outfit  on  a  raid.  When  I 
called  the  colonel's  attention  to  our  appearance 
he  laughed  heartily  and  replied  that  he  hoped 
no  reporters  would  see  him  and  add  another 
crime  to  the  already  long  list  of  which  they  have 
accused  him. 

Doctor  Meams  and  I  were  hunting  one  mid- 
night along  the  base  of  a  series  of  rocky  hills 


"JACKING"  ANIMALS  113 

about  three  miles  from  Naivasha.  We  were 
after  foxes  and  anything  else  but  springhaas, 
for  we  had  long  since  collected  a  sufficient  num- 
ber of  them. 

Now  and  then  the  Hght  would  fall  upon  some 
small  ground-dwelling  bird  that  allowed  us  to 
approach  almost  within  arm's  length  before  it 
flew,  and  several  times  we  nearly  caught  one 
in  our  hands. 

Sometimes  we  would  walk  suddenly  upon  a 
mouse  or  a  rat  which  stopped  and  blinked  at  the 
light  and  then  scampered  into  a  hole  or  into 
a  cluster  of  bushes. 

Again,  a  tuft  of  grass,  a  hummock,  a  stone, 
or  a  bit  of  wood,  discovered  at  such  a  distance 
that  for  the  minute  we  could  not  tell  whether 
it  was  an  animal  or  not,  caused  us  to  approach 
cautiously  in  anxious  expectation  of  adding 
another  species  to  our  already  large  collection. 

Far  back  in  the  hills,  fully  a  mile  away,  came 
the  deep  guttural  moan  of  a  lion.  Possibly  he 
had  just  made  a  "kill"  and  was  voicing  his  sat- 
isfaction at  the  prospect  of  a  full  stomach;  we 
hoped  so  at  least,  for  then  we  were  in  little 
danger  from  that  particular  lion. 

From  right  to  left  and  back  again  the  light 


114     AFRICAN  ADVENTURE  STORIES 

searched  the  open,  brushy,  and  rock-strewn 
country,  trying  to  discover  some  specimen  of 
value. 

The  lamp  had  just  finished  a  half -circle  to  the 
left  and  I  had  started  to  swing  it  back,  when  a 
faint  glimmer  caught  my  eye.  I  held  the  lamp 
steadily  and  looked  again.  Two  fire  balls,  much 
wider  apart  and  quite  different  from  anything 
we  had  ever  seen,  stared  at  us. 

"What's  that.?"  I  asked. 

"Go  on,"  replied  the  doctor. 

Cautiously  and  silently  we  approached .  Larger 
and  larger  grew  the  lights.  My  heart  began  to 
bump  against  my  ribs.  Now  we  were  within 
shooting  distance. 

"Let  him  have  it!"  whispered  the  doctor. 

"No,"  I  said,  "It's  neither  a  springhaas  nor 
a  fox;  it's  too  large,  it  must  be  a  lion." 

"  Give  it  to  him,  anyway,"  he  repKed. 

"Not  on  your  fife!  I'm  not  going  to  tackle  a 
lion  in  the  dead  of  night  with  nothing  but  a  shot- 
gun and  two  loads  of  number  four  shot,"  I 
whispered. 

"All  right,  then!  Give  me  the  gun,  I'll  shoot 
him,"  said  the  doctor. 

Just  at  that  moment  the  lights  flared  up,  and 


"JACKING"  ANIMALS  115 

I  then  saw  that  our  lion's  eyes  were  nothing 
more  than  the  dying  embers  of  a  Kikuyu  native 
camp-fire. 

Probably  the  blacks  were  clustered  about  five 
or  ten  deep  and  at  that  moment  were  sleeping 
the  sleep  of  the  just,  oblivious  of  wild  animals 
or  wild  white  men.  Had  I  fired,  I  should  un- 
doubtedly have  peppered  a  dozen  or  more  of 
them.  It  was  a  fortunate  thing  that  I  dis- 
covered the  mistake  in  time,  for  it  costs  some- 
thing to  shoot  a  native  in  Africa.  One  must  not 
only  pay  for  those  he  wounds  but  all  the  near 
relatives  of  a  man  he  may  kill  expect  payment. 

After  we  returned  to  the  hotel,  we  began  to 
figure.  Based  on  the  damage  paid  for  such 
suits,  we  came  to  the  conclusion  that  that  shot 
would  have  cost  each  of  us  at  least  two  dollars 
and  thirty  cents. 


CHAPTER  IX 

A    FATAL    ENCOUNTER    WITH    LIONS 

TO  fully  appreciate  the  danger  of  lion- 
hunting,  a  person  should  visit  the  little 
cemetery  at  Nairobi,  British  East  Africa, 
with  some  one  who  can  show  him  the  graves  of 
those  unfortunate  hunters  who  have  been  killed 
by  these  mammoth  cats.  Gruesome  though 
such  an  experience  may  be,  it  serves  as  an  ob- 
ject-lesson to  the  green  hunter  who  has  just 
arrived  in  the  country,  and  proves  to  him  the 
need  of  being  cautious,  cool,  and  accurate  in  his 
aim. 

I  feel  safe  in  saying  that  inexperienced  sports- 
men do  not  at  first  realise  the  great  danger  of 
lion-hunting.  They  take  it  for  granted  that 
one  or  two  well-placed  bullets  from  a  modern 
high-power  rifle  are  sufficient  to  stop  the  charge 
of  any  so-called  dangerous  animal.  Such  is  often 
the  case;  but  again  several  balls  in  vital  spots 
will  fail  to  kill  a  lion  before  it  has  succeeded  in 
killing  the  hunter. 

116 


FATAL  ENCOUNTER  WITH  LIONS    117 

It  is  too  often  true  that  sportsmen  who  are 
killed  or  are  mortally  wounded  by  lions  have 
placed  their  lives  in  jeopardy  by  following 
wounded  animals  into  thickets  or  into  tall 
grass,  where  the  meeting  is  almost  certain  to  be 
at  close  range  and  unexpected.  And  yet  many 
an  experienced  lion-hunter  has  been  mauled  when 
the  conditions  were  such  that  an  *' accident" — 
as  the  English  call  a  mauling — seemed  impossi- 
ble. 

Some  African  tribes  of  natives  do  not  hesitate 
to  attack  lions  with  spears,  even  though  they 
know  that  usually  it  will  result  in  the  death  or 
serious  injury  of  one  or  more  of  their  party. 

We  were  camped  in  the  Sotik  country,  on 
the  North  N'Guasso  Nyero  River,  where  lions 
were  abundant.  One  afternoon  a  young  En- 
glishman named  Chapman,  who  was  travelling 
through  the  country  selling  and  trading  sheep 
with  the  Masai  tribe,  camped  near  by.  We 
spent  a  pleasant  evening  together,  and  during 
the  course  of  our  conversation  he  mentioned 
that  he  had  never  shot  a  lion,  but  was  anxious 
for  an  opportunity.  He  showed  us  an  anti- 
quated single-shot  rifle  and  asked  if  we  thought 
it  powerful  enough  to  do  the  work.    We  ex- 


118     AFRICAN  ADVENTURE  STORIES 

pressed  a  doubt.  The  following  morning  he 
broke  camp  and  moved  over  to  a  Masai  village, 
some  twenty  miles  away. 

About  supper  time  two  days  later  I  stepped 
to  the  tent  door  and,  gazing  across  the  veldt 
opposite  camp,  saw  a  man  leading  a  mule  on 
which  was  perched  a  very  wabbly  object  resem- 
bling a  native.  As  they  drew  near  I  discovered 
that  it  was  Chapman's  tent  boy  leading  the  ani- 
mal, and  that  the  wabbly  object  was  a  porter. 

They  slowly  plodded  into  camp,  and  the  tent 
boy  handed  Doctor  Mearns,  our  physician  and 
surgeon,  a  note  from  Chapman.  The  doctor 
opened  the  letter  and  began  reading,  while  the 
injured  man,  his  arms  and  legs  bandaged  in 
pieces  of  cloth,  was  helped  from  the  mule  and 
immediately  sank  to  the  ground. 

The  note  told  us  that  Chapman  had  attacked 
a  troop  of  lions  in  a  thick  brush  and  wounded 
two  of  them,  one  of  which  had  charged  the 
party  and  mauled  the  porter.  The  poor  fellow 
was  badly  injured.  Both  of  his  legs  and  arms 
were  bitten  and  scratched,  and  his  thumb  was 
crushed.  Doctor  Mearns  washed  out  and  steril- 
ised the  wounds,  then  wrapped  them  in  clean 
bandages,  and  we  made  the  man  as  comfortable 


FATAL  ENCOUNTER  WITH  LIONS    119 

as  we  could.  The  tent  boy  was  then  sent  back 
to  Chapman's  camp  with  the  mule. 

At  breakfast  time  the  next  morning,  who 
should  appear  but  the  same  boy,  this  time  riding 
the  mule.  He  carried  another  note  from  his 
master  saying  that  after  the  fight,  the  Masai 
had  attacked  the  lions  and  that  two  of  the  men 
were  badly  mauled.  He  wanted  the  doctor  to 
come  over  as  soon  as  possible  and  treat  them. 

The  doctor  left  immediately  and  returned 
late  that  evening,  and  this  is  the  story  he  told: 

"Chapman  had  camped  near  a  Masai  *  kraal,' 
and,  after  selling  the  villagers  a  few  sheep,  he 
asked  them  if  they  knew  where  there  were  any 
lions.  They  took  him  to  a  thicket  that  even- 
tually proved  to  be  the  lair  of  a  troop  of  lions. 
It  was  then  late  in  the  evening,  so  the  English- 
man decided  to  postpone  his  attack  until  the 
following  day. 

"Soon  after  daylight  Chapman  returned  with 
his  boys  and  a  Masai  spearman,  and,  sneaking 
up  to  the  thicket  he  saw  two  half -grown  cubs 
playing  at  the  skirting.  He  opened  fire  and 
wounded  them,  but  they  bolted  out  of  sight 
into  the  brush  before  they  could  be  despatched. 
He  circled  the  brush  patch  several  times,  but 


120     AFRICAN  ADVENTURE  STORIES 

did  not  find  them,  so  he  determined  to  send  in 
the  boys  to  drive  them  out — a  dangerous  under- 
taking. 

"Reluctantly  the  blacks  entered  the  lair  and 
began  shouting  and  beating  the  brush  with 
sticks.  Chapman,  on  the  outside,  a  few  rods  in 
advance,  waited  for  the  lions  to  appear.  Half 
of  the  thicket  had  been  driven  over  when  a 
beater  found  one  of  the  lions,  dead,  and  it  was 
dragged  into  the  open.  This  discovery  some- 
what encouraged  the  men,  and  they  returned  to 
the  brush  more  willingly. 

"There  still  remained  about  one  hundred 
yards  of  the  thicket  to  be  driven,  yet  so  far 
only  two  lions  had  been  seen.  Chapman  was 
beginning  to  think  that  the  ones  he  had  seen 
the  evening  before  must  have  escaped  during 
the  night.  Suddenly  a  large  Honess  stepped 
from  cover  and  calmly  stood  gazing  at  the 
Englishman.  As  he  raised  his  rifle  and  took 
aim,  two  more  lions  appeared  some  distance 
farther  on.  Chapman  fired,  and  when  the  bul- 
let struck  the  lioness  she  gave  a  deep,  hoarse 
growl  and,  wheeling  about,  charged  him.  The 
distance  between  them  was  so  short  that  he 
did  not  have  time  to  reload.     The  infuriated 


FATAL  ENCOUNTER  WITH  LIONS    121 

beast  was  almost  upon  him  when  one  of  the 
porters  in  the  edge  of  the  brush  jumped  from 
cover  directly  in  the  path  of  the  charging  brute. 

"The  poor  fellow  discovered  his  mistake  too 
late,  for,  as  he  turned  to  run  back,  the  lioness 
reared,  and,  burying  its  teeth  in  the  man's 
shoulder,  bore  him  to  the  earth.  The  man  and 
the  cat  tumbled  about  on  the  ground  while 
Chapman  worked  frantically  to  reload  his  rifle. 

"At  that  moment  the  Masai  spearman 
bounded  up  to  the  struggling  pair.  Crouching 
behind  his  rhinoceros-hide  shield,  he  poised  his 
spear  in  the  air  and  drove  the  steel  shaft  into 
the  lion's  body.  Growling  savagely,  the  lion 
dropped  its  victim  and  turned  upon  the  Masai. 
Chapman  had  reloaded  by  this  time,  and  he 
managed  to  shoot  the  animal  through  the 
shoulder  before  it  had  a  chance  to  maul  the 
guide. 

"Chapman's  narrow  escape  convinced  him 
that  he  had  better  not  attack  any  more  lions 
with  his  single-shot  rifle,  so,  after  attending  to 
his  wounded  porter,  he  started  back  to  camp. 
He  had  gone  only  a  short  distance  when  he 
met  a  party  of  Masai  warriors  who  had  been 
attracted  by  the  shooting.     They  were  heavily 


122     AFRICAN  ADVENTURE  STORIES 

armed  with  their  tribal  weapon — spears.  After 
they  heard  what  had  taken  place  they  wanted 
Chapman  to  return  with  them  and  kill  the  other 
Hons,  but  he  refused  to  go. 

"The  Masai  were  insistent.  They  said  that 
they  would  go  whether  he  accompanied  them 
or  not,  so  finally  he  gave  his  rifle  to  one  of  his 
boys  and  sent  him  back  with  the  natives  while 
he  continued  on  with  the  wounded  porter. 

"On  arriving  at  the  lair  the  warriors  took 
positions  on  the  outside  of  the  thicket  and  sent 
several  men  inside  to  drive  out  the  Hons.  In  a 
few  minutes  the  shouts  of  the  beaters  told  that 
a  Hon  had  been  started,  but  the  animal  kept 
closely  under  cover  so  there  was  no  opportu- 
nity to  spear  it.  The  beaters  had  worked  along 
to  the  end  of  the  thicket,  when  suddenly  a  large, 
black-maned  lion  rushed  from  the  thicket  within 
a  few  yards  of  two  warriors.  Both  men  hurled 
their  spears  at  the  animal.  One  of  them  missed 
his  mark,  but  the  spear  from  the  other  struck 
the  lion  in  the  flank  and  it  turned  and  boimded 
back  to  cover. 

"The  lion  could  be  heard  snarling,  growling, 
and  thrashing  about  in  the  brush  in  an  effort 
to  extract  the  spear  from  its  side.     From  the 


FATAL  ENCOUNTER  WITH  LIONS    123 

swaying  of  the  bushes  the  Masai  saw  that  the 
animal  was  working  its  way  into  a  dense  part 
of  the  thicket,  so  they  thought  it  best  to  leave 
it  in  hope  that  it  would  soon  die  from  its  wounds. 

*'The  beaters  worked  around  behind  the 
wounded  lion,  as  they  supposed,  and  again  com- 
menced to  beat  the  brush  for  other  Hons.  They 
had  not  given  the  spearmen  time  to  properly 
distribute  themselves  since  the  last  encounter, 
however.  Only  one  man  had  reached  the  far 
side  of  the  thicket  when  a  deep,  guttural  growl 
was  heard.  The  next  instant  the  wounded  lion 
bolted  out  of  the  brush  close  to  the  solitary 
spearman  and,  catching  sight  of  him,  threw 
up  its  tail  and  charged. 

"The  Masai,  crouching  behind  his  shield,  his 
spear  poised  in  the  air,  waited  until  the  brute 
was  almost  upon  him,  then  with  a  gentle  flirt 
of  his  wrist  he  sent  the  keen-bladed  weapon 
into  the  lion's  shoulder  and  out  on  the  opposite 
side,  fully  eighteen  inches.  The  Hon  struck  the 
uplifted  shield  and,  reaching  over  it,  seized  the 
man  by  the  shoulder  and  the  two  sank  to  the 
ground. 

*'Had  the  other  spearmen  been  present  to 
follow  up  the  attack,  the  man's  life  might  have 


124     AFRICAN  ADVENTURE  STORIES 

been  saved.  As  it  was,  after  he  had  once  thrown 
his  weapon  he  was  helpless,  for  these  people 
carry  only  one  spear,  relying  upon  their  kins- 
men for  help  when  needed. 

"A  sixteen -year-old  boy  who  chanced  to  be 
tending  cattle  near  by  had  been  watching  the 
hunt  and  was  only  a  few  rods  away  when  the 
lion  attacked  the  Masai.  Seeing  the  plight  his 
comrade  was  in,  he  rushed  to  his  assistance  and, 
with  only  a  "  knob-stick  "*  for  a  weapon,  began 
beating  the  great  cat  on  the  head.  Three  blows 
were  sufficient  to  make  the  shaggy-maned  crea- 
ture leave  the  man  he  was  mauling  and  spring 
upon  the  brave  little  herder.  Only  a  few  mo- 
ments elapsed  before  a  score  of  spearmen  arrived 
and  riddled  the  animal  with  spears,  but  the  poor 
little  fellow  had  been  mortally  wounded." 

Doctor  Mearns  made  three  trips  from  our 
camp  to  the  village  in  an  effort  to  save  the 
lives  of  those  two  natives,  but  both  of  them  died 
of  blood-poisoning.  When  the  news  reached 
us  that  they  were  dead,  the  doctor  said:  "Lo- 
ring,  during  my  career  as  an  army  surgeon  I 
saw  and  heard  of  a  great  many  cases  of  bravery, 
but  never  have  I  known  a  boy  so  young  to  vol- 

*A  three-foot  stick  with  a  knob  the  size  of  a  baseball  at  one  end. 


FATAL  ENCOUNTER  WITH  LIONS    125 

untarily  enter  a  conflict  which  he  must  have 
known  meant  certain  death.  It  seems  a  pity 
that  such  an  act  of  bravery  should  pass  without 
some  recognition  from  a  civilised  people." 


CHAPTER  X 

CROCODILES 

THE  chief  difference  between  the  croco- 
dile and  the  alligator  Hes  in  the  head, 
the  snout  of  the  latter  usually  being 
much  longer  and  narrower  than  that  of  the 
former.  While  there  are  no  alligators  in  Africa, 
there  are  both  crocodiles  and  alligators  in  the 
United  States. 

As  we  left  Lake  Albert  and  entered  the  Nile 
we  found  crocodiles  in  considerable  numbers. 
As  the  steam-launch  Kenia  glided  down-stream, 
crocodiles  slid  from  the  bank  into  the  water. 
Frequently,  while  passing  a  narrow  bay  or  round- 
ing a  sharp  bend,  we  surprised  one  or  more 
at  close  range,  and  they  swished  their  tails  in 
the  air  and  scrambled  into  the  river. 

At  "Rhino  Camp"  they  were  very  common, 
and  our  party  killed  several  during  our  three 
weeks*  stay.  Colonel  Roosevelt  shot  one  from 
which  we  took  forty-eight   eggs   and   Kermit 

killed  another  that  contained  fifty-two  eggs. 

126 


CROCODILES  127 

On  a  high  bank  of  the  Nile,  about  fifteen  feet 
from  the  papyrus,  I  discovered  a  crocodile's 
nest  with  thirty-eight  eggs  and  in  the  bushes 
near  by  were  the  shells  of  several  more  eggs  that 
had  been  stolen  and  eaten  by  monitor  lizards. 

These  nests  were  depressions  in  the  ground. 
The  eggs,  placed  in  layers,  were  so  arranged  as 
to  leave  no  doubt  that  the  crocodile  used  her 
forefeet  in  placing  and  covering  them  with  the 
earth  and  rubbish  in  which  they  were  always 
buried. 

Several  times  I  surprised  a  "croc"  lying  out 
on  the  bank  about  a  mile  from  one  of  our  camps, 
but  it  was  so  watchful  that  it  managed  to  elude 
me.  One  afternoon  I  crept  stealthily  to  the 
edge  of  the  bank  and,  looking  over,  saw  it  bask- 
ing in  the  sun  with  its  jaws  wide  open — a 
favourite  attitude.  As  usual,  it  slid  into  the 
water  before  I  could  aim  and  fire.  I  knew  that 
it  would  return  soon,  so  I  took  a  short  hunt 
and  then  came  back.  There  it  was  again, 
hauled  out  on  the  bank  much  farther  than 
usual,  the  tall  grass  concealing  quite  half  of 
its  body.  A  brain  shot,  or  one  through  the 
spine,  is  the  only  sure  medicine  for  a  crocodile, 
so,  as  its  head  was  hidden,  I  was  compelled  to 


128     AFRICAN  ADVENTURE  STORIES 

aim  at  the  middle  of  its  back.  At  the  sound 
of  the  rifle  it  threw  its  head  high  in  the  air  and 
wriggled  about  so  that  my  second  shot  missed 
the  brain  and  struck  the  jaw.  The  first  shot 
had  severed  its  vertebra,  however,  and  it  soon 
died.  That  night  the  body  was  carried  away 
by  some  animal. 

A  few  days  later  another  croc  slid  off  the 
bank,  not  far  from  the  same  place,  but  foolishly 
rose  to  the  surface  a  few  yards  away,  giving  me 
time  to  shoot  it  through  the  brain  with  a  ball 
from  my  32-40  Moundsville  three-barrel  gun. 
Turning  on  its  side  it  sank  at  once  and  was  not 
seen  again. 

Another  wily  old  fellow  lived  in  a  channel 
between  the  bank  of  the  river  and  a  papyrus 
island  fifty  feet  away.  Time  and  again  it  man- 
aged to  escape  me  by  scurrying  into  the  water 
before  I  could  fire.  The  first  time  that  we  met 
I  came  upon  it  so  unexpectedly  that  it  almost 
turned  a  back  somersault  off  the  bank,  as  it 
wheeled  and  plunged  into  the  channel.  After 
that  it  would  lie  in  the  water,  close  to  shore, 
with  only  its  eyes  and  tip  of  its  nose  above  the 
surface. 

How  many  times  that  old  villain  escaped  I 


CROCODILES  129 

am  ashamed  to  say,  but  one  morning  I  crept  up 
behind  a  huge  tree  and,  peeping  through  some 
bushes,  saw  its  eyes  and  nose.  Through  an 
opening  I  carefully  aimed  and  took  ofif  the  top 
of  its  skull.  It  sank  instantly,  and,  as  the  water 
was  shallow,  I  tried  to  persuade  my  gun  bearer 
to  wade  in  after  it.  He  was  afraid  of  being 
nabbed  by  another  croc,  however,  so  it  was  left 
to  me  to  get  the  animal  out.  Armed  with  a  long 
pole,  I  waded  into  the  shallow  and  fished  about 
until  I  found  the  body,  while  the  gun  bearer 
stood  on  shore  with  my  cocked  rifle  in  case 
another  croc  appeared.  Finally,  I  managed  to 
drag  the  croc  close  enough  for  us  to  catch  it 
by  the  tail  and  haul  it  to  the  bank.  It  was  a 
small  one,  only  nine  feet  long;  in  fact,  of  the 
four  crocs  that  I  killed  none  was  larger. 

When  we  commenced  to  skin  it  the  thing 
thrashed  and  kicked  as  though  it  were  alive,  but 
of  course  no  animal  whose  brains  had  been 
floating  down  the  Nile  for  the  past  fifteen  min- 
utes could  still  be  alive.  Nevertheless,  it  was 
the  liveliest  dead  thing  I  ever  attempted  to  take 
the  bark  from.  My  gun  bearer  straddled  and 
tried  to  hold  it,  but  it  wrenched  its  tail  about 
and  threw  him  several  feet.    Finally  I  managed. 


130     AFRICAN  ADVENTURE  STORIES 

after  a  half-hour's  fight,  to  sKce  off  the  few 
pieces  of  skin  I  wanted. 

While  we  were  going  down  the  Nile,  on  the 
way  to  Nimule,  my  tent  boy  spied  a  crocodile 
on  the  bank  about  fifty  yards  away.  We  had 
passed  before  I  saw  it,  and  by  the  time  I  could 
get  my  rifle  it  was  hidden  by  a  patch  of  grass. 
Taking  a  quick  aim  into  the  tussock,  I  pulled 
the  trigger  and  had  the  satisfaction  of  seeing 
the  croc's  jaws  fly  open  and  come  together  with 
a  snap,  and  as  it  did  not  leave  the  shore  we  knew 
that  he  was  hard  hit. 

To  many  people  this  may  not  sound  commend- 
able, but  I  am  sure  that  my  action  will  be  in- 
dorsed by  every  one  who  has  visited  the  upper 
Nile  country  and  knows  the  true  habits  of  these 
reptiles.  Crocodiles  deserve  no  more  sympathy 
or  protection  than  do  tuberculosis  or  cancer 
germs,  for  they  are  nothing  more  than  a  gigan- 
tic parasite.  Annually  hundreds  of  natives  are 
carried  off  by  these  loathsome  creatures,  and, 
knowing  them  as  I  do,  I  must  confess  that  a 
sort  of  fiendish  glee  overcame  me  whenever  I 
killed  one.  That  our  entire  party  shared  much 
the  same  opinion  is  proven  by  the  fact  that  of 
all  the   animals   we   killed   during   our   eleven 


CROCODILES  131 

months  in  the  country,  the  crocodile  was  the 
only  one  whose  body  or  skin  was  not  put  to 
some  useful  purpose. 

While  lions  also  prey  on  the  natives,  their 
mode  of  attack  and  their  entire  life  is  so  differ- 
ent from  that  of  a  crocodile  that  their  crimes 
do  not  seem  as  repulsive.  A  lion  will  not  hesi- 
tate to  risk  its  life  in  a  fight  for  food  and,  in  a 
way,  will  give  its  victim  a  chance  to  protect 
itself,  but  a  croc  shows  no  quarter;  it  drowns 
its  prey  without  endangering  itself,  and  then 
leaves  the  body  in  a  hole,  or  on  a  ledge  under 
water,  to  be  devoured  at  leisure.  Instead  of 
enjoying  life  in  an  active,  intelligent  manner,  as 
most  animals  do,  its  only  ambition  is  to  bask  in 
the  sun  until  hunger  compels  it  to  commit  an- 
other crime.  Of  what  use  is  such  a  creature 
either  to  itself  or  to  the  world  at  large,  and  why 
did  nature  place  such  an  animal  on  earth? 

In  the  stomach  of  a  crocodile  killed  by  Kermit 
Roosevelt  were  found  the  claws  of  a  cheetah, 
the  hoofs  of  an  impala,  the  bones  of  an  eland, 
and  the  shell  plates  of  a  river- turtle.  Not 
only  do  crocodiles  slay  wild  animals,  but  they 
prey  extensively  upon  sheep,  goats,  donkeys, 
horses,  dogs,  and  cattle.     Once  a  camel  that  had 


132     AFRICAN  ADVENTURE  STORIES 

gone  to  water  to  drink  was  grabbed  by  the  nose 
by  a  croc  and  hauled  under  the  surface.  There 
is  even  an  authentic  record  of  a  full-grown  rhinoc- 
eros being  caught  by  the  leg  and  dragged  into 
deep  water  and  drowned,  and  the  witness  took 
several  photographs  of  the  beast  as  it  was 
gradually  pulled  farther  and  farther  toward  its 
doom. 

When  a  crocodile  discovers  where  the  natives 
gather  at  a  watering-place,  it  lurks  near  by,  com- 
ing to  the  top  only  when  compelled  to  breathe. 
It  may  float  on  the  surface,  several  rods  away, 
until  a  native  approaches  to  fill  a  water-jar. 
Instantly  it  dives,  and,  swimming  under  water, 
is  not  seen  again  until  it  has  grabbed  him  by 
the  legs,  or  the  hand,  and  dragged  him  in.  Per- 
chance it  will  first  strike  its  victim  with  its  tail, 
knock  him  off  the  bank,  and  then  seize  him;  at  all 
events  the  result  is  the  same. 

Women  and  children  are  the  chief  victims, 
because  upon  them  rests  the  duty  of  providing 
the  household  with  water. 

A  little  girl  was  given  a  gourd  water-bottle 
and  sent  to  the  river  to  fill  it,  but  she  never 
returned.  Through  friends,  with  whom  she 
stopped  to  play  en  route,  she  was  traced  to  the 


CROCODILES  18S 

watering-place,  where  the  half-filled  gourd  was 
found  at  the  water's  edge. 

As  our  boats  drew  up  to  the  landing  at  Nimule 
I  noticed  women  dipping  up  water  with  gourd 
shells  fastened  to  the  ends  of  long  poles,  and 
learned  that  such  caution  was  necessary  because 
of  the  danger  from  crocodiles.  Only  a  few  days 
before  a  woman  had  been  seized  and  carried  away 
by  a  croc,  and  we  were  told  that  these  animals 
were  particularly  dangerous  at  this  place. 

A  few  years  ago — and  this  is  only  one  of 
many  similar  instances — a  boy  seated  on  the 
gunwale  of  a  Soudan  boat  was  dangling  his  feet 
over  the  side.  Suddenly  a  croc  threw  itself 
out  of  the  water,  and,  snatching  the  lad  by  the 
legs,  dragged  him  in.  A  native  sailor  saw  the 
tragedy  and  plunged  in  after  the  boy  but  was 
unable  to  save  him. 

Two  Boganda  lads  about  ten  years  old  were 
fishing  in  a  Uttle  estuary  of  the  White  Nile  near 
Nimule.  Tiring  of  their  unsuccessful  efforts, 
boy-like,  they  romped  up  and  down  the  shore. 
They  were  chasing  each  other  close  to  the 
water's  edge  when  a  croc's  tail  whipped  around 
and  knocked  one  of  them  into  the  water.  His 
spunky   companion   grabbed   him   by   the  leg; 


134     AFRICAN  ADVENTURE  STORIES 

at  the  same  instant  the  croc  caught  the  boy's 
arm.  A  few  minutes'  struggle  and  both  boys 
were  slowly  dragged  farther  out  into  the  river, 
and  finally  the  rescuer  was  compelled  to  loose 
his  hold.  A  throng  of  natives  gathered  and  wan- 
dered along  the  bank  seeking  some  clew  of  their 
kinsman's  whereabouts.  Finally,  the  crowd  dis- 
persed without  finding  him,  but  two  hours 
later  several  women,  returning  to  the  village 
with  fire-wood  and  unconscious  of  what  had 
happened,  passed  the  spot  and  heard  faint  cries 
for  help.  They  searched  the  neighbourhood,  but 
the  voice  was  weak  and  came  so  irregularly 
that  they  abandoned  the  hunt  and  went  to  the 
village  for  assistance.  Some  two  hundred  peo- 
ple assembled.  By  keeping  quiet  they  finally 
located  the  cries,  which  apparently  came  from 
the  bowels  of  the  earth  at  the  base  of  a  big 
tree  growing  at  the  water's  edge.  Several 
women  began  digging  about  the  roots,  and  in 
time  the  earth  gave  way  and  they  discovered  a 
cavity  where  the  waves  had  undermined  the 
bank  so  that  when  the  water  receded  a  ledge 
was  left.  On  this  ledge  the  boy  was  found. 
He  was  some  fifty  yards  from  the  spot  where 
he  had  first  disappeared.     After  the  crocodile 


CROCODILES  135 

had  held  him  under  water  until  it  supposed  him 
drowned  it  had  carried  him  to  the  cavity  and 
left  him  for  dead,  but  the  lad  had  recovered 
consciousness  and  was  rescued  before  the  brute 
returned  to  make  a  meal  of  him. 

The  story  is  told  of  two  natives  who  at- 
tempted to  cross  the  Nile  in  a  leaky  dugout 
canoe.  They  had  gone  but  a  short  distance 
when  they  saw  a  crocodile  floating  on  the  sur- 
face twenty  rods  away.  It  sank  and  came  to 
the  top  much  nearer  to  them;  again  it  went 
down  and  this  time  reappeared  only  ten  rods 
from  the  canoe. 

The  natives  are  familiar  with  the  habits  of 
these  reptiles,  and  the  canoemen  realised  from 
its  actions  that  it  intended  to  attack  them,  so 
they  bent  all  their  efforts  toward  reaching  shore. 
They  were  half-way  across  when  the  croc's  head 
burst  from  the  water  close  to  the  stern  and  made 
a  lunge  at  the  man  in  the  back  of  the  canoe. 

The  blacks  had  been  shouting  for  help,  and  the 
people  who  had  gathered  with  spears  and  clubs 
ran  along  the  bank  shouting  and  gesticulating. 
Encouraged  by  the  villagers  and  spurred  by  a 
dexterous  swing  of  the  croc's  tail  that  just  missed 
one  of  the  men,  the  two  paddled  for  shore  with 


136     AFRICAN  ADVENTURE  STORIES 

all  their  might.  A  second  blow  and  the  reptile 
struck  the  canoe  on  the  side,  keeled  it  over,  and 
it  slowly  filled  with  water.  When  it  finally  set- 
tled back  on  an  even  keel  only  a  few  inches  of 
the  gunwale  were  above  the  surface. 

One  of  the  men  had  lost  his  paddle  and  in  the 
excitement  he  tried  to  paddle  with  his  hands, 
giving  the  croc  the  very  opportunity  it  sought, 
of  which  it  was  quick  to  take  advantage,  for  it 
grabbed  the  man  by  the  hand.  The  canoe  cap- 
sized and  threw  out  the  occupants. 

In  all  dugout  canoes  there  are  several  stays 
that  are  used  to  spread  the  sides  and  keep  them 
in  shape.  To  one  of  these  the  croc's  victim 
held  with  his  free  hand,  while  his  companion 
floundered  to  safety. 

A  score  of  blacks  rushed  into  the  water,  and 
while  some  snatched  the  canoe  others  grabbed 
the  struggling  man  and  dragged  him  and  the 
writhing  croc  toward  shore.  As  soon  as  the 
creature  appeared  above  water  a  dozen  spears 
were  thrown  into  it,  compelling  it  to  loosen  its 
grip  on  the  man,  and  he  was  dragged  to  the 
bank  beyond  harm's  way. 

The  croc,  badly  wounded,  kept  floundering 
about  and  snapping  at  the  spear  shafts  dangling 


CROCODILES  137 

from  its  body.  Finally,  a  native  succeeded  in 
throwing  a  noosed  grass  rope  about  its  head 
and  they  all  began  to  haul  the  big  reptile  ashore. 
The  brute  fought  desperately  but  was  soon  half- 
way out  of  the  water,  and  the  people  fell  upon 
it  with  clubs  and  spears  and  put  it  to  death. 

The  native's  arm  was  badly  lacerated  to  the 
shoulder- joint  and  was  amputated  by  a  doctor 
from  one  of  the  near-by  missions. 


CHAPTER  XI 

A   BATTLE  WITH   A   TORRENT 

WHILE  Colonel  Roosevelt  was  engaged 
collecting  a  group  of  elephants  on  the 
opposite  side  of  Mount  Kenia  Doc- 
tor Mearns  and  I  had  been  instructed  to  ascend 
the  west  slope  as  high  as  possible  and  make  a 
thorough  biological  survey  at  various  altitudes. 

Boga,  a  Kikuyu  native,  had  heard  of  our 
intention  to  climb  the  mountain,  so,  while  we 
were  camped  at  Neri,  he  presented  himself  and 
applied  for  the  position  of  guide.  He  knew  the 
way?  Oh,  yes;  he  had  been  a  member  of  the 
Ross  expedition  that  had  ascended  to  the  top 
of  the  mountain  a  few  years  before;  therefore 
he  had  qualified  as  a  guide. 

One  might  ask:  "But  why  should  you  need  a 
guide  to  show  you  the  way  to  an  isolated  moun- 
tain of  jungle,  bamboo,  heather,  rock,  and  snow 
seventeen  thousand  two  hundred  feet  high  and 
only  thirty  miles  distant.'^"  So  far  as  not  being 
able  to  find  the  mountain  was  concerned,  there 

138 


A  BATTLE  WITH  A  TORRENT    139 

was  no  need.  What  we  wished  to  avoid  was  cut- 
ting our  way  through  the  jungle  when  we  should 
reach  the  actual  base  of  the  mountain,  and,  as 
this  man  knew  the  trails,  he  could  save  us  days 
of  arduous  work  and  vexation,  so  we  "took  him 
on,'*  to  use  an  English  expression. 

Three  hours'  march  from  Neri  brought  us 
to  the  end  of  what  seemed  to  be  a  "wood  trail" 
— used  by  the  native  women  wood-carriers — ^in 
the  thick  of  a  bit  of  jungle. 

"Boga,"  said  we,  "you're  a  great  guide. 
You  told  us  you  knew  the  trail,  and  here,  before 
we  are  scarcely  out  of  Neri,  you've  lost  us  on  a 
wood  trail.  We  don't  believe  you  have  ever 
been  up  Mount  Kenia." 

Boga's  ingratiating  smile  spread  from  ear  to 
ear.  ''Bwana  (master),  indeed  I  have  been  al- 
most to  the  very  top  of  the  mountain,  but  you 
see,  Bwana,  I  went  up  from  the  opposite  side.  I 
know  nothing  of  the  trails  on  this  side,"  he 
replied. 

How  like  a  native!  Either  through  cunning- 
ness  or  stupidness — it  might  have  been  either; 
it  might  have  been  both — he  had  trapped  us 
into  hiring  him. 

Among  our  hundred  Kikuyu  porters,  who  had 


140     AFRICAN  ADVENTURE  STORIES 

lived  under  the  very  shadow  of  the  mountain 
all  their  lives,  there  must  be  some  one  who  knew 
the  right  trail.  But  no;  the  snow-capped  peak, 
glistening  in  the  sun,  did  not  appeal  to  these 
half-naked  fellows.  They  were  working  for  us 
because  their  chiefs,  in  making  the  treaty  with 
the  government,  had  agreed  to  furnish  the 
white  men  with  porters  when  called  upon,  and 
they  were  anxious  for  some  excuse  to  turn  back, 
so  none  volunteered  to  act  as  guide. 

"Very  well,"  we  said,  "we  are  going  up 
Mount  Kenia,  trail  or  no  trail,  so  if  you  would 
prefer  to  cut  your  way  through  the  jungle  or 
stumble  along  with  your  heavy  packs  it  makes 
no  difference  to  us,"  and  we  started  on  again. 

Then  it  was  that  a  porter  suddenly  remem- 
bered that  he  knew  the  general  direction — if 
we  crossed  the  gully  beneath  us  we  would  soon 
come  out  on  a  veldt  and  by  skirting  it  for  a 
few  miles  we  might  strike  the  right  trail.  The 
rascals!  They  knew  the  way  well  enough  but 
hoped  to  turn  us  back  by  declaring  their  inabil- 
ity to  act  as  guides. 

We  put  the  new  guide  at  the  head  of  the  pro- 
cession and  in  half  an  hour  were  out  in  the 
open  country  once  more.     In  the  distance  was  a 


A  BATTLE  WITH  A  TORRENT    141 

Masai  kraal  (village)  and  we  decided  to  get  a 
man  there  who  could  put  us  right  again. 

This  fellow — a  rather  old  man  who  carried  a 
spear — proved  to  be  worse  than  the  first  guide, 
for,  after  proceeding  about  five  miles,  he  called 
a  halt  just  as  we  were  about  to  enter  another 
dense  jungle.  He  said  that  he  was  not  sure 
of  the  direction  and  wanted  time  to  look  for 
the  trail,  so  we  seated  ourselves  in  the  shade  of 
the  forest  and  awaited  developments. 

He  kept  us  there  for  half  an  hour  and  then 
returned  with  the  discouraging  news  that  he 
could  not  find  the  trail.  Once  more  he  started 
off  in  another  direction,  and  that  was  the  last 
that  we  ever  saw  of  him,  for  he  deserted  us  slick 
and  clean. 

That  the  trail  was  to  the  north  seemed  rea- 
sonable, so,  with  my  gun  bearer  running  by  my 
side,  I  put  spurs  to  my  horse  and  started  off 
to  do  a  little  scouting  on  my  own  account. 

A  mile  and  a  half  I  rode  over  veldt,  through 
brush  clumps,  and  then  into  the  jungle,  where, 
for  the  most  part,  I  followed  elephant  and  rhino 
paths. 

Finally,  I  came  to  a  stream  about  fifty  feet 
wide.     Had  it  been  early  in  the  morning,  before 


142     AFRICAN  ADVENTURE  STORIES 

the  snow  on  the  mountain  top  had  commenced 
to  melt,  I  should  have  had  no  dijfficulty  in  ford- 
ing it,  but  the  sun  had  been  beating  down  on 
the  drifts  for  hours,  and  the  stream  was  con- 
verted into  a  raging  torrent  that  undermined 
great  boulders  and  sent  them  bumping  over 
the  rocky  bottom  to  find  new  resting-places  far 
below. 

I  worked  my  way  along  the  bank,  looking  for 
a  chance  to  cross,  and  finally  came  to  a  place 
where  the  creek  widened  and  the  water  was 
shallow.  Although  the  current  ran  swiftly,  it 
seemed  to  be  the  only  near-by  spot  to  ford  and, 
as  we  had  already  lost  much  valuable  time,  I 
decided  to  make  the  attempt. 

At  the  foot  of  the  riffle  the  stream  narrowed, 
and  there  appeared  to  be  an  abrupt  drop 
in  the  river  bed,  for  the  water  suddenly  broke 
into  a  succession  of  angry  billows,  three  feet 
high,  that  extended  down  the  main  channel, 
like  the  waves  that  follow  in  the  wake  of  a 
large  steamer. 

Taking  my  rifle  from  my  gun  bearer  and  lay- 
ing it  across  the  saddle  in  front  of  me,  I  told 
him  to  wait  there  until  I  should  return  and 
then  rode  into  the  stream. 


A  BATTLE  WITH  A  TORRENT    143 

In  addition  to  my  hunting-coat  with  large 
inside  pockets,  I  wore  hobnailed  shoes,  spurs, 
and  a  belt  filled  with  cartridges,  from  which 
dangled  my  hunting-knife. 

Lazarus,  my  hunting  pony — so  named  be- 
cause of  his  lack  of  flesh  and  general  anaemic  ap- 
pearance— stepped  fearlessly  into  the  stream. 
He  was  perfectly  at  home  in  the  water  and  a 
good  swimmer;  at  least  that  was  what  I  was 
told  when  I  purchased  him. 

The  creek  became  deeper  and  deeper  with 
every  step,  and  by  the  time  I  was  in  the  middle 
the  water  was  dashing  wildly  against  my  ani- 
mal's legs.  I  had  reached  the  most  dangerous 
spot  when  my  gun  bearer  shouted.  The  roar- 
ing of  the  torrent  drowned  his  words,  so  I  turned 
to  look  back. 

At  that  instant  Lazarus  must  have  stepped 
on  and  slipped  from  a  large  boulder,  for  sud- 
denly he  stumbled  and  fell  upon  his  knees.  He 
fought  bravely  for  a  few  seconds  to  regain  his 
footing,  but  the  tumultuous  water  was  more 
than  a  match  for  him.  He  slipped,  slid,  and 
floundered  about,  deluging  me  with  water. 

Nearer  and  nearer  we  bumped  along  toward 
the  end  of  the  riflfle  and  the  rolling  billows  below 


144     AFRICAN  ADVENTURE  STORIES 

it.  On  the  brink  of  the  drop  the  faithful  beast 
made  a  frantic  effort  to  save  himself  and  did 
manage  to  gain  a  footing  for  a  few  seconds;  so 
I  turned  his  head  up-stream.  ~  It  was  too  late, 
however,  for  the  instant  that  he  raised  his  foot 
the  impact  of  the  water  against  his  chest  swept 
him  from  his  feet,  and  we  were  carried  into 
deep  water. 

I  shall  never  forget  the  feeling  that  passed 
over  me  as  the  ice-cold  water  crept  up  my 
legs  and  slowly  reached  my  thighs.  I  could  not 
withhold  a  gasp,  and  then  suddenly  the  current 
whisked  the  horse  about  and  bore  him  into  the 
riotous  waves. 

The  spray  dashed  into  the  horse's  face,  terri- 
fying and  bewildering  him.  He  pawed  the 
water  with  his  forefeet  and  refused  to  swim. 
Each  time  we  headed  toward  shore,  he  received 
the  full  force  of  the  swells  on  the  flank.  He 
rolled  Hke  a  round-bottom  boat,  while  I  clung 
to  the  saddle  horn  and  swayed  from  side  to  side 
in  an  effort  to  balance  him,  and  also  to  prevent 
being  pitched  off. 

Two  hundred  yards  below,  in  a  sharp  bend  of 
the  stream,  a  mass  of  logs,  limbs,  and  tree  tops 
had  lodged,  and  the  spray  was  boiling  over  this 


A  BATTLE  WITH  A  TORRENT    145 

drift  pile  with  terrific  force.  I  instantly  real- 
ised that  if  the  horse  should  be  carried  against 
it  we  would  both  be  drawn  under  by  the  suc- 
tion of  the  water. 

Lazarus  was  hopelessly  unseaworthy,  that 
was  plain;  so  there  was  no  alternative  but  to 
desert  him  to  his  fate  and  try  to  save  myself. 
With  all  my  strength  I  hurled  my  rifle  toward 
shore  and  saw  it  fall  within  a  few  feet  of  the 
bank.  Then  I  kicked  my  left  foot  from  the 
stirrup  and  tried  to  do  likewise  with  the  right 
one,  but  it  caught  in  some  manner,  and,  struggle 
as  hard  as  I  could,  it  would  not  free. 

I  imagined  myself  thrown  from  the  horse  and 
dangling  head  down  in  the  water,  with  my  foot 
fast  to  the  saddle.  This  vision  brought  me  to 
my  senses;  it  was  no  time  to  think,  but  to  act. 

Jerking  my  hunting-knife  from  its  sheath,  I 
reached  down,  cut  the  stirrup  strap  that  held 
me  prisoner  to  the  horse,  gave  several  vigor- 
ous kicks,  and  finally  the  stirrup  slid  off  my 
foot. 

Then  it  was  that  I  must  have  lost  my  head. 
Of  course,  I  had  no  time  to  replace  the  knife  in 
its  sheath,  but,  instead  of  tossing  it  ashore  and 
hunting  it  up  afterward,  as  I  might  well  have 


146     AFRICAN  ADVENTURE  STORIES 

done,  I  dropped  it  into  the  stream.  Although 
one  cannot  think  of  all  these  little  details  at 
such  a  time,  I  always  feel  chagrined  when  I 
recall  the  act. 

Once  free,  I  rolled  off  Lazarus' s  back  into  the 
ice-cold  water,  that  less  than  an  hour  before  had 
probably  formed  part  of  a  glacier  or  a  snow- 
bank high  up  on  Mount  Kenia.  I  had  scarcely 
left  the  animal  when  he  rolled  completely  over, 
and  one  of  his  feet  hit  me  as  I  drifted  away. 

The  left  shore  toward  which  I  had  floated, 
was  a  perpendicular  bank  five  feet  high,  and  the 
water  that  washed  its  sides  was  deep  and  run- 
ning swiftly. 

The  instant  that  I  faced  the  current  the  spa- 
cious pockets  of  my  hunting-coat  filled  with 
water  and  acted  as  a  drag,  so  I  turned  and 
tried  to  swim  down-stream  and  toward  the  op- 
posite side.  The  swift  current  carried  me  to- 
ward the  cut  bank,  however,  and  my  coat  floated 
about  my  head  and  shoulders,  retarding  me 
worse  than  before,  so  once  more  I  wheeled 
about  and  stemmed  the  stream. 

It  was  useless  and  wearing  on  my  strength 
to  attempt  to  swim  against  the  current;  so  I 
devoted  my  energy  to  simply  staying  on  the  sur- 


A  BATTLE  WITH  A  TORRENT   147 

face,  for  the  cut  bank  here  offered  no  chance  for 
a  grip  or  a  footing. 

Each  time  that  I  sank  into  the  trough  of  the 
billows  all  view  was  hidden;  then,  as  I  rose  upon 
a  crest,  I  saw  my  gun  bearer  running  along  the 
bank.  Finally  I  passed  out  of  the  billows  into 
the  choppy  waves,  which  splashed  into  my  face 
and  choked  me. 

The  heavy  shoes  and  belt  of  cartridges  seemed 
to  be  doing  their  best  to  drag  me  down  to  a 
watery  grave.  Trees  and  bushes  shot  past  Hke 
a  moving  panorama. 

By  this  time  the  distance  to  the  drift  pile 
had  been  reduced  to  a  hundred  yards,  and  as  I 
gazed  toward  it  I  saw,  hanging  over  the  water, 
the  top  of  a  small  tree  from  the  roots  of  which 
the  water  had  washed  the  earth,  causing  it  to 
lean.    This  seemed  my  only  hope. 

By  great  exertion  I  swam  to  a  point  where 
the  rapid  current  would  carry  me  within  its 
reach.  Down,  down,  down,  nearer  and  nearer 
to  death  or  salvation  I  drifted. 

As  I  drew  near  the  limb  I  tried  to  swim  with 
the  stream,  but  once  more  the  coat  flopped 
about  my  arms  and  I  was  able  to  work  my 
hands   just    enough   to    keep   afloat.     Finally, 


148     AFRICAN  ADVENTURE  STORIES 

only  twenty  feet  separated  me  from  the  branch, 
then  fifteen,  ten,  five,  and  with  all  my  strength 
I  threw  myself  out  of  the  water  and  frantically 
seized  the  Hmb. 

It  yielded  until  it  could  bear  no  more  and, 
as  the  current  whipped  my  body  about  and  my 
pockets  again  filled  with  water,  there  was  a 
sudden  jerk — the  strain  was  too  great  on  my 
numbed  fingers  and  the  limb  shpped  from  my 
grasp. 

A  feeling  of  despair  swept  over  me  as  I  looked 
down  at  the  spray,  dashing  over  that  pile  of 
logs  and  rubbish,  and  the  swerving  whirlpool 
ready  to  suck  me  under. 

Then  suddenly  I  saw  the  end  of  a  limb  pro- 
truding above  the  water  about  five  feet  from  the 
jam.  The  current  swayed  it  from  side  to  side 
and  I  knew  that  it  must  be  insecure,  but  it  was 
my  last  chance. 

On  nearing  it  I  stemmed  the  current  and 
began  to  swim  with  all  my  fast-waning  strength, 
hoping  thus  partly  to  check  my  progress  and 
ease  the  shock  to  my  arms  and  to  the  Hmb 
when  I  should  grab  it. 

Just  as  I  was  about  to  shoot  past  I  seized  it 
in  both  hands  and  clung  for  dear  life.    The 


A  BATTLE  WITH  A  TORRENT   149 

limb  was  attached  to  a  submerged  log,  one  end 
of  which  was  lodged  in  the  drift  pile  and  the 
other  rested  diagonally  against  the  bank. 

It  bent  almost  double  from  the  awful  strain, 
but  I  managed  to  keep  my  grip.  At  that  mo- 
ment my  body  was  drawn  under  until  my  head 
was  so  low  in  the  water  that  the  spray  splashed 
into  my  face.  I  felt  a  bar  of  some  sort  resting 
across  my  back — I  had  been  partly  drawn  under 
the  edge  of  the  drift  pile. 

Feeling  about,  I  finally  found  a  resting-place 
on  a  log  for  my  feet,  and  by  pushing,  and  pulling 
at  the  same  time  with  my  hands,  I  wriggled  my 
body  from  side  to  side  and  managed  to  work 
my  head  above  the  water. 

A  mass  of  roots  protruded  from  the  bank 
almost  within  arm's  reach.  Again  bracing  my 
feet  against  the  log  that  had  pinned  me  down, 
I  gave  a  vigorous  push,  threw  myself  toward 
shore,  and  snatched  the  roots. 

Under  ordinary  circumstances  it  would  have 
been  easy  to  scramble  out,  but  in  my  ex- 
hausted condition,  and  with  at  least  a  bucket 
and  a  half  of  water  in  my  hunting-coat  pockets, 
I  could  scarcely  drag  myself  from  the  stream. 

At  last,  however,  I  managed  to  work  my  way 


150     AFRICAN  ADVENTURE  STORIES 

to  the  top  of  the  bank  and,  leaning  over,  allowed 
the  water  to  drain  from  my  coat;  then  labori- 
ously crawled  over  the  edge  and  up  on  the 
bank. 

When  I  looked  about  I  saw  my  gun  bearer 
holding  Lazarus  by  the  bridle.  As  soon  as  I 
had  left  him  he  had  commenced  swimming, 
and  after  floating  down-stream  some  distance 
he  struck  a  bar  and  waded  back  to  the  bank 
from  which  he  had  started. 

Undressing,  I  rubbed  my  numbed  body  and 
ran  up  and  down  the  shore  until  my  blood 
was  again  circulating  freely.  Then  donning  my 
clothes  once  more — oh,  they  did  feel  so  cold 
and  clung  so  tightly! — I  walked  along  the  bank, 
found  a  suitable  place  to  cross,  and,  plunging  in, 
swam  over  to  the  horse  and  man  awaiting  me. 

The  safari  was  awaiting  my  return,  so  after  I 
had  related  my  experience  we  went  into  camp 
for  the  night  in  a  small  opening  in  the  jungle. 

Early  the  following  morning  the  head  man 
started  out  in  quest  of  the  trail,  which  eventu- 
ally he  found  three  miles  to  the  east.  While  he 
was  away  I  went  back  to  recover  my  rifle. 

The  stream  was  now  a  mere  rivulet,  and,  after 
locating  the  spot  where  the  rifle  should  be,  I 


A  BATTLE  WITH  A  TORRENT   151 

waded  about  in  my  stocking  feet  until  I  located 
it  and  then  went  back  to  camp.  After  I  had 
given  the  gun  a  thorough  overhauling  and  oiling 
we  continued  our  journey  up  the  mountain. 


CHAPTER  XII 

"hippos'* 

CONSIDERING  the  length  of  time  that 
Central  Africa  has  been  "opened  up" 
to  white  men,  together  with  the  wonder- 
fully large  native  population  that  has  always 
lived  there,  it  is  really  astonishing  that  the 
hippopotamus  has  not  more  rapidly  decreased 
in  number.  Of  the  three  great  African  pachy- 
derms— the  elephant,  the  rhinoceros,  and  the 
hippopotamus — the  latter  is,  perhaps,  the  least 
suspicious  of  danger,  is  not  hard  to  kill,  and, 
being  restricted  to  water,  is  easily  found. 

Seldom  is  the  "hippo" — as  it  is  generally 
called  by  big-game  hunters — found  far  from 
water  during  the  daytime.  As  soon  as  it  be- 
comes alarmed,  or  is  wounded  on  land,  it  makes 
for  water  and  seeks  protection  in  the  dense 
undergrowth  in  the  shallows,  or  by  diving  and 
remaining  under  until  forced  to  come  to  the  sur- 
face to  breathe.  Even  then  the  white  hunter 
can  follow  along  the  bank  or  from  a  boat  can 

152 


"  HIPPOS  "  153 

fire  when  the  animal's  head  appears;  while  the 
method  of  the  natives  is  to  chase  it  in  one  or 
more  canoes  and  with  spears  literally  torture 
it  to  death. 

While  more  numerous  in  large  waterways, 
the  hippo  also  inhabits  small  watercourses  and 
even  small  pools,  and  during  the  dry  season  is 
forced  to  seek  the  deep,  isolated  pools  that  occur 
in  the  semi-dry  river  beds,  where  it  falls  an  easy 
prey  to  the  blacks. 

The  female  hippo  produces  but  one  or  two 
young  at  a  time,  and  probably  does  not  breed 
more  than  once  in  two  years,  if,  in  fact,  as  often 
as  that.  As  all  of  the  large  lakes  and  water- 
ways have  been  traversed  by  explorers  and 
sportsmen  for  many  years,  one  might  naturally 
conclude,  after  what  has  been  said,  that  the 
hippo  would  have  been  exterminated  long  ago. 

The  natural  habitat  of  the  hippo  is  the  low- 
land lakes  and  rivers  and  the  deep,  narrow 
streams  bordered  with  dense  aquatic  vegeta- 
tion that  extends  some  distance  into  the  water. 
Here  it  is  that  the  hippo  spends  the  day,  hidden 
in  the  weeds  and  papyrus,  or  floating  leisurely 
on  the  surface,  or  basking  on  the  bank.  Some- 
times you  will  see  him  floating  with  only  the 


154     AFRICAN  ADVENTURE  STORIES 

top  of  his  back  and  head  above  the  surface. 
Again  you  find  him  with  several  of  his  com- 
panions huddled  together  on  a  bar,  or  on  an 
island  in  midstream,  or  hauled  out  on  shore 
where  he  can  plunge  into  the  water  at  the 
shghtest  sign  of  danger.  As  you  watch  him 
lying  there,  apparently  asleep,  save  for  the  sud- 
den and  violent  spasmodic  convulsion  of  his 
thick  skin  as  he  rids  himself  of  insect  pests, 
you  might  easily  conclude  that  he  is  entirely 
off  his  guard.  Try  to  approach  him  in  a  boat 
and,  although  you  will  be  able  to  get  within 
rifle-range,  you  find  that  he  is  evidently  sleep- 
ing with  one  eye  open,  for  suddenly,  without  the 
slightest  hesitation,  he  jumps  to  his  feet  and 
into  the  water,  followed  by  his  companions. 
Sinking  out  of  sight,  he  swims  so  deep  that  not 
even  a  ripple  is  left,  but  the  rising  bubbles  from 
expelled  air  mark  his  course  and  give  you  an 
idea  of  his  whereabouts.  If  you  wait  a  few 
minutes — usually  not  more  than  two  if  you 
have  not  fired  and  badly  frightened  him — ^you 
will  see  only  his  eyes  and  nostrils  and  hear  a 
loud,  puffing  sound  as  he  appears,  some  fifty  or 
seventy-five  yards  away,  to  take  a  fresh  breath 
of  air.     If  he  sees  you  he  remains  in  sight  only 


"  HIPPOS  "  155 

long  enough  to  fill  his  lungs  and  then  sinks,  but 
if  you  have  hidden  yourself,  he  may  stay  in 
sight  for  a  minute  or  more  before  disappearing. 

We  were  introduced  to  hippos  at  McMillan's 
ranch,  where,  one  evening,  we  walked  through 
the  garden  to  the  banks  of  the  Athi  River,  at 
this  point  not  more  than  thirty -five  feet  wide 
but  having  numerous  enlargements  of  still,  deep 
water  where  hippos  lived.  At  intervals  along 
the  bank  well-worn  hippo  paths  led  from  the 
river  bank  inland  for  several  rods  and  then 
dwindled  out  where  the  animals  had  diverged 
to  feed.  Throughout  the  undergrowth  directly 
bordering  the  stream,  for  a  distance  of  fifty 
yards  from  shore,  was  a  network  of  hippo  trails. 

It  was  at  McMillan's  ranch,  not  many  years 
ago,  that  the  gardener,  one  moonlight  evening, 
was  awakened  in  his  little  grass  shack  at  the 
border  of  the  garden.  He  stepped  to  the  door 
and  discovered  a  hippo  feeding  upon  the  veg- 
etables he  had  so  carefully  cultivated  and 
guarded.  An  argument  immediately  took  place 
but  was  abruptly  terminated  by  the  hippo  biting 
off  the  man's  head  with  a  single  snap  of  its  jaws. 
Now  they  have  another  gardener  at  McMillan's. 

The  gardens  of  villagers  living  near  waters 


156     AFRICAN  ADVENTURE  STORIES 

inhabited  by  hippos  suffer  greatly  from  the 
depredations  of  these  animals,  chiefly  at  night 
when  they  break  through  the  brush  fences  and 
feed  on  com,  sugar-cane,  and  garden-truck.  It 
is  then  that  the  hippo  is  dangerous  and  is  most 
likely  to  resent  being  disturbed. 

While  rowing  silently  along  one  of  these  small 
East  African  rivers  a  hunter  will  be  startled  by 
a  sudden  rushing  sound  on  the  bank  only  a  few 
yards  away,  or  possibly  directly  opposite  him, 
and  the  next  instant  a  hippo  pitches  down  a 
steep,  well-worn  trail  and  plunges  into  the  river, 
sending  the  waves  splashing  against  the  side  of 
the  craft  and  perhaps  nearly  capsizing  it. 

Again,  if  you  keep  a  sharp  lookout  as  you 
round  a  bend  you  may  catch  a  glimpse  of  a 
hippo's  head  disappearing,  and  as  you  pass  the 
spot  you  will  see  the  rank  grass  moving  and 
hear  the  rustle  of  the  weeds  as  the  animal  seeks 
shelter. 

Lake  Naivasha  was  the  second  place  where 
we  encountered  these  great  animals.  After  two 
days'  march  from  the  N'Guasso  Nyero  River 
we  went  into  camp  close  to  the  lake.  While 
the  porters  were  putting  up  the  tents,  I  walked 
down  to  the  shore.     Peeping  through  an  open- 


"HIPPOS"  157 

ing  in  the  papyrus,  I  saw  two  hippos  floating 
leisurely  on  the  surface  about  two  hundred 
yards  away.  Every  few  seconds  one  of  them 
would  open  his  great  jaws  and  bring  them  to- 
gether with  a  snap  as  he  munched  the  succu- 
lent lily-pads  and  stems. 

The  brush  about  the  lake  was  very  thick  and 
in  some  spots  extended  inland  several  hundred 
yards.  All  through  this  growth  were  wide,  well- 
worn  trails.  Where  the  brush  was  so  thick  that 
a  person  could  not  penetrate,  the  hippos  had 
forced  their  way,  leaving  a  deep  foot-path  only, 
and  the  branches  had  swung  back  into  position 
overhead  so  that  to  follow  them  one  had  to  crawl 
on  hands  and  knees. 

Near  camp  we  found  the  bleached  bones  of  a 
half-grown  hippo  that  had  been  killed  by  a 
settler  because,  either  for  fun  or  in  fits  of  ugli- 
ness, it  had  persisted  in  chasing  his  cattle  when- 
ever they  came  down  to  the  lake  to  drink. 

At  Lake  Naivasha  Colonel  Roosevelt  collected 
most  of  the  hippos  that  will  some  time  comprise 
the  group  in  the  National  Museum  at  Wash- 
ington. He  went  hunting  several  times  before 
I  finally  saw  Cuninghame  and  three  of  the  por- 
ters in  a  boat  towing  a  large  hippo  ashore.    The 


158     AFRICAN  ADVENTURE  STORIES 

colonel  and  Kermit  had  run  into  a  herd  of 
hippos  and  had  wounded  one  of  them,  which 
charged  through  the  water.  For  a  few  seconds 
it  appeared  as  though  the  animal  would  reach 
the  boat  and  dump  the  occupants  into  the  lake, 
but  the  colonel's  shots,  fired  into  the  brute's 
open  mouth,  finally  killed  it  and  the  rest  of  the 
herd  made  off. 

Frequently  boats  are  upset  or  crushed  be- 
tween the  jaws  of  a  hippo,  and  the  hunters  are 
drowned  or  seriously  injured.  There  is,  how- 
ever, more  danger  from  a  hippo  in  the  water 
than  from  one  on  land,  for  when  surprised  on 
land,  in  dayUght,  their  chief  thought  seems  to 
be  to  get  back  to  water  as  soon  as  possible. 

After  we  left  Lake  Albert  and  entered  the 
White  Nile  we  found  hippos  far  more  abundant 
than  in  any  other  section  of  Africa  we  had 
visited.  During  the  two  days'  run  down  the 
river  to  "Rhino  Camp,"  and  again  after  we  left 
the  camp  and  were  on  the  way  down  to  Nimule, 
we  saw  anywhere  from  a  dozen  to  fifty  hippos 
every  day. 

They  were  found  in  ones,  twos,  and  threes, 
and  sometimes  as  many  as  a  dozen  to  fifteen 
were  seen  at  a  time.     Usually  they  were  float- 


"  HIPPOS  "  159 

ing  on  the  surface  with  only  part  of  their  backs 
and  their  heads  visible,  but  often  we  saw  them 
standing  in  the  shallow  water,  huddled  together 
on  a  bar  or  on  an  island,  or  lying  in  groups  on 
the  bank  sunning  themselves. 

Whenever  we  came  suddenly  upon  them  they 
would  scurry  into  deep  water  and  sink  out  of 
sight,  but  when  there  was  a  long  stretch  of 
water  and  they  were  floating  they  could  see 
the  boats  in  the  distance  and  would  raise  their 
great  heads  to  get  a  better  view.  As  we  drew 
near  they  disappeared,  coming  to  the  surface 
once  more  some  distance  away. 

Sometimes  they  would  go  down  and  come  up 
just  as  we  were  passing,  not  twenty  feet  away. 
On  seeing  the  boats  their  surprise  was  so  great 
that  they  often  threw  their  bodies  quite  out  of 
water,  and,  falling  back  with  a  mighty  splash 
that  sent  huge  waves  washing  against  the  craft, 
disappeared,  and  were  next  seen  several  hundred 
yards  in  the  rear. 

There  is  no  doubt  that  we  could  have  killed 
twenty-five  or  thirty  hippos  on  the  way  from 
Lake  Albert  to  "Rhino  Camp"  and  three 
times  as  many  during  our  two  weeks'  stay  in 
camp.     The  colonel  and  Kermit  had  killed  all 


160     AFRICAN  ADVENTURE  STORIES 

that  were  wanted  for  specimens,  however,  so 
they  were  not  molested. 

At  "Rhino  Camp"  we  heard  them  snorting 
and  bellowing  at  all  times  of  the  day  and  night, 
but  mostly  after  dark.  The  bellowing  sounded 
first  like  the  noise  produced  by  the  exhaust  of  a 
huge  ocean  liner  and  then  ended  with  a  cow- 
like "moo." 

In  a  little  estuary  of  the  Nile  that  was  bor- 
dered on  the  far  side  by  a  wide,  dense  growth 
of  papyrus,  not  seventy-five  yards  from  camp, 
there  lived  an  old  cow  hippo.  Nearly  every 
afternoon  about  five  o'clock,  she  left  the  cover 
and  swam  about  in  the  open  water,  within  easy 
sight  and  hearing  of  the  group  of  men  and  por- 
ters who  were  watching.  One  evening  the  colonel 
saw  a  young  one  standing  on  her  back,  just  as 
they  were  depicted  in  our  old  school-books. 

One  night  I  was  awakened  by  two  hippos 
that  were  fighting  just  across  the  bay.  I  arose 
and,  walking  to  the  tent  opening,  stood  and 
listened.  The  two  monsters  were  bellowing 
fiercely  and  floundering  about  in  the  thick  weeds 
and  shallow  water.  Every  few  seconds  I  heard 
a  great  splash  as  though  they  had  reared  up 
and  fallen  back  into  the  water.     The  conflict 


"HIPPOS"  161 

lasted  about  three  minutes,  then  all  was  silent 
for  some  time;  but  finally  I  heard  a  hippo  bel- 
low several  rods  down  the  river,  and  then  came 
the  answering  bellow  of  the  victorious  animal 
in  the  papyrus  opposite  camp. 

It  is  not  at  all  unusual  to  find  hippos  with 
their  heads  and  bodies  badly  scarred  from 
wounds  received  while  fighting. 

Kermit  and  I  tried  to  get  some  flash-light 
photographs  of  hippos,  but  we  were  new  at 
this  kind  of  photography,  and  as  we  did  not 
have  the  time  to  experiment  much  we  failed. 
One  afternoon  while  we  were  at  work  setting  up 
the  camera,  arranging  the  flash  and  the  cord 
that  it  was  intended  the  hippo  should  run 
against,  when  he  came  out  on  the  bank  at  night 
to  feed — thereby  opening  the  shutter,  setting 
off  the  flash,  and  taking  his  own  picture — five 
hippos  appeared  in  the  river  opposite  us,  not 
more  than  fifty  feet  away.  They  would  poke 
their  heads  out  of  water,  puff,  wiggle  their 
short,  pink  ears,  and  after  a  minute  draw  in  a 
long  breath,  close  their  nostrils,  and  then  sink. 
They  remained  in  the  vicinity  for  fully  half  an 
hour,  coming  to  the  surface  at  intervals  of 
about  two  minutes  and  then  sinking  again. 


162    AFRICAN  ADVENTURE  STORIES 

We  had  our  rifles  ready  in  case  one  should 
charge;  they  did  not  attempt  to  molest  us,  how- 
e^^er,  but  simply  seemed  inquisitive.  We  were 
unable  to  tell  whether  they  fed  on  the  vegeta- 
tion at  the  bottom  of  the  river,  for  they  never 
appeared  with  food  in  their  mouths,  although 
they  could  easily  have  swallowed  it  before  com- 
ing to  the  surface. 

During  the  early  settlement  of  Africa,  when 
the  mail  was  distributed  along  the  Nile  by 
canoes,  these  animals  were  so  abundant,  and 
so  many  of  them  were  truculent,  that  the  mail- 
carriers  were  provided  with  large,  water-tight 
rubber  bags  in  which  the  mail-sacks  were  tied. 
These  in  turn  were  fastened  to  wooden  floats  by 
long  lengths  of  stout  cord,  so  that  when  a  canoe 
was  capsized  by  a  hippo,  the  sacks  could  be  easily 
located  and  recovered  without  much  difficulty. 

An  ugly  old  bull  hippo  which  lived  not  far  from 
"Rhino  Camp"  was  a  terror  to  the  natives. 
It  would  lie  in  the  edge  of  the  papyrus  and 
charge  out  at  passing  boats.  It  had  upset  sev- 
eral canoes  and  drowned  one  or  more  natives, 
so  the  blacks  appealed  to  the  colonel  to  kill  it, 
but  it  wisely  kept  out  of  sight  during  our  visit 
in  the  vicinity. 


"HIPPOS"  163 

While  rowing  or  paddling  on  the  rivers  and 
lakes  of  Africa  I  was  many  times  very  close 
to  hippos,  but  always  escaped  being  attacked. 
Just  why  these  animals,  which  are  considered  the 
least  dangerous  of  the  three  great  African  mam- 
mals, should  attack  a  craft  is  somewhat  puzzling. 
While  a  few  of  them,  no  doubt,  do  charge  with 
malice  aforethought,  even  without  first  being 
molested,  from  all  accounts  it  would  seem  that 
the  greater  number  do  so  for  sport,  or  lack  of 
employment. 

It  is  seldom  that  a  hippo  actually  demolishes 
a  boat  or  kills  its  occupants.  The  few  that  do 
charge  simply  bump  into  a  craft  and  knock  a 
hole  in  it  with  their  snout,  or  rise  beneath  it  and 
turn  it  over,  and  then  go  on  about  their  business, 
if  it  can  be  said  that  a  hippo  has  any  business. 

A  few  days  before  our  arrival  at  Butiaba,  on 
Lake  Albert,  a  hippo  had  attacked  a  small 
steel  boat  and  driven  its  tusks  through  the  bot- 
tom, sinking  it  at  once. 

Captain  Hutchinson,  of  the  Uganda  Marine, 
told  me  of  an  experience  he  had  with  a  hippo 
while  hunting  on  Lake  Albert.  He  had  just 
left  the  landing  in  a  small  wooden  rowboat 
and  did  not  expect  to  see  any  hippos  for  some 


164    AFRICAN  ADVENTURE  STORIES 

time.  Suddenly  a  hippo  rose  from  the  water 
close  astern,  and,  throwing  its  body  into  the  air, 
it  fell  on  the  boat,  capsizing  and  sinking  the 
shell  with  its  weight.  The  occupants  were  all 
dumped  into  the  lake,  but  as  soon  as  the  boat 
reappeared  they  swam  to  it  and  finally  managed 
to  reach  the  near-by  shore.  The  hippo  did  not 
return  to  the  attack,  however,  and  no  damage 
was  done  other  than  the  battering  in  of  the 
stern  of  the  craft.  The  danger  arising  from  a 
hippo  capsizing  a  boat  is  not  so  much  from  the 
hippo  itself  as  it  is  from  the  chance  of  one  of 
the  unfortunate  crew  being  picked  up  by  a 
crocodile.  Many  casualties  of  this  kind  have 
happened. 

While  out  hunting  crocodiles  with  the  colonel 
and  Kermit  near  *' Rhino  Camp,"  one  afternoon, 
we  suddenly  cut  across  a  little  bay  that  was 
completely  hidden  by  the  tall,  thick  papyrus, 
and,  as  the  boatmen  allowed  the  boat  to  drift 
with  the  current,  the  herd  of  five  hippos  that 
was  basking  in  tne  sun  at  the  far  end  of  the 
bay  did  not  hear  or  see  us  until  we  were  within 
fifty  feet  of  them.  The  surprise  was  mutual, 
for,  while  the  bay  was  not  unknown  to  us  and 
we  had  expected  to  see  crocodiles  in  it,  we  did 


"  HIPPOS  "  165 

not  count  on  the  hippos;  but  there  they  were, 
hippos  and  crocs,  cuddled  up  together  in  peace 
and  comfort. 

Such  a  scrambling  and  splashing  as  the 
crowd  made  when  we  came  into  view  defies 
description.  The  crocs  were  out  of  sight  in  an 
instant,  but  the  bulky  hippos  almost  reached 
the  boat  before  the  water  became  deep  enough 
to  submerge  them. 

Thinking  if  we  pulled  in  alongside  the  papy- 
rus and  waited,  some  of  the  crocodiles  might 
come  to  the  surface  in  a  few  minutes  and  give 
us  a  shot,  we  ran  the  prow  of  the  boat  into  the 
weeds  and  watched.  Three  minutes  must  have 
passed  when,  suddenly,  the  head  of  a  hippo 
appeared,  not  fifteen  feet  from  our  boat.  He 
gave  one  look  and,  throwing  himself  out  of  the 
water,  fell  back  and  sank,  and  the  next  time  he 
came  to  the  surface  he  was  a  hundred  yards  out 
in  the  Nile.  The  animal  must  have  been  one 
of  the  herd  which,  on  seeing  the  boat  block- 
ing the  entrance  when  we  first  appeared,  had 
rushed  into  the  deep  water  and,  fearing  to  dive 
under  our  craft,  had  remained  there  in  hope 
that  we  would  pass  on,  as  no  doubt  he  had  before 
seen  hundreds  of  boats  do. 


166    AFRICAN  ADVENTURE  STORIES 

On  several  occasions  I  saw  hippos  disappear 
and  later  come  up  in  the  same  place. 

Where  large  beds  of  papyrus  grew  on  com- 
paratively soUd  ground  hippos  had  made  wide, 
well-worn  paths  all  through  it,  and  all  along 
the  river  bank,  in  some  places  at  intervals 
of  every  fifty  yards  or  so,  hippo  trails  emerged 
from  the  water  and  led  inland,  where  the  ani- 
mals had  come  out  at  night  to  feed  on  the 
vegetation.  Of  course,  these  trails  were  used 
also  by  other  animals  that  came  to  drink,  but 
that  hippos  travelled  them  extensively  was 
proven  by  our  finding  hippo  tracks  two  and 
three  miles  from  water. 

By  being  used  generation  after  generation, 
hippos  had  worn  not  trails  but  trenches  ten  feet 
deep  through  the  perpendicular  clay-banks  to 
the  water  level.  The  sides  of  these  trenches, 
about  three  feet  apart,  were  smooth  and  pol- 
ished, caused  by  the  animals'  wet  sides  rubbing 
against  them.  The  only  way  such  runs  could 
have  been  made  was  by  constant  use  for  years 
while  the  Nile  was  rising  and  falling,  until  they 
were  finally  worn  level  with  the  low-water  mark. 

While  the  hippo  spends  most  of  the  day 
snoozing  in  the  papyrus,  floating  on  the  surface 


"  HIPPOS  "  167 

of  the  water,  or  basking  in  the  sun  along  the 
bank,  as  soon  as  it  becomes  dark  he  takes  to 
the  land  to  feed  on  grass  and  other  vegetation. 
In  his  meanderings  along  the  bottom  of  the 
river  and  as  he  comes  to  the  surface  amid  dense 
growths  of  aquatic  plants  he  often  becomes 
tangled  in  them,  and  some  of  the  leaves,  stems, 
and  roots  stick  to  his  body.  After  he  has  been 
on  shore  a  short  time  his  body  dries  and  the 
leaves  and  blades  fall  or  are  scraped  off  by  the 
bushes;  so  one  will  find  water-plants  strewn 
wherever  hippos  have  been  wandering. 

One  would  think  that  such  a  clumsy,  short- 
legged  animal  would  not  be  able  to  move  very 
fast  on  land,  and,  in  fact,  they  seldom  do  move 
fast  when  not  molested;  but  if  they  are  fright- 
ened they  attain  remarkable  speed. 

One  night  my  tent  boy  awakened  me  and 
said  that  a  hippo  was  prowhng  around  back  of 
the  porters'  tents.  The  men  had  had  no  meat 
for  some  time.  Thinking  that  this  would  be  a 
good  opportunity  to  supply  them,  without  run- 
ning a  risk  of  losing  the  animal  by  its  sinking, 
as  hippos  do  when  shot  in  the  water,  I  snatched 
up  my  rifle  and  with  Doctor  Mearns  started 
after  the  brute.     It  was  a  moonlight  night,  and 


168    AFRICAN  ADVENTURE  STORIES 

we  could  see  plainly  for  some  distance;  so, 
clad  in  our  pyjamas,  we  scoured  the  burned- 
grass  plain  looking  for  the  game,  but  did  not 
find  it. 

As  before  stated,  the  African  natives  are  able 
to  kill  hippos  with  spears.  They  also  destroy 
them  with  poisoned  spears,  and  then  patrol  the 
shore  for  days,  waiting  for  the  animal  to  die 
and  float  to  the  surface,  which  it  does  from  an 
hour  to  three  hours  after  death. 

Captain  Hutchinson  tells  of  seeing  the  natives 
of  the  Lake  Albert  region  kill  a  hippo  with 
spears.  They  first  attacked  the  animal  in  open 
water,  and  it  made  into  the  papyrus  and  hid. 
Finally  it  was  driven  out,  whereupon  it  charged 
a  canoe  and  seized  one  of  the  natives  by  the 
head.  Other  canoes  were  in  reach,  and  before 
it  had  time  to  decapitate  the  man  so  many 
spears  were  driven  into  its  body  that  it  opened 
its  jaws  and  attacked  another  boat  but  was 
killed  before  it  could  do  more  damage.  Strange 
as  it  may  seem,  the  man  escaped  with  no  more 
than  a  badly  disfigured  face  but  probably  would 
have  died  had  he  not  received  medical  attention 
from  a  British  army  surgeon. 

Killing  hippos  in  this  manner  is  considered 


"  HIPPOS  "  169 

so  dangerous  that  not  many  of  the  blacks  are 
willing  to  take  the  risk,  which,  no  doubt,  is  one 
of  the  reasons  why  hippos  are  still  so  abundant 
in  thickly  populated  native  districts. 


CHAPTER  XIII 

INTERESTING   AFRICAN   REPTILES 

FROM  the  reader's  standpoint  a  book  on 
African  travel  or  African  animals  might 
seem  incomplete  without  a  chapter  on 
snakes,  yet,  after  reading  these  few  lines,  if  you 
feel  disappointed,  please  do  not  blame  me.  I 
have  tried  my  best  to  make  an  interesting  chap- 
ter of  a  subject  that  to  most  people  is  "repul- 
sively fascinating,"  but  I  may  have  failed  for 
lack  of  material. 

Snakes  there  are  in  Africa — ^big,  little,  poison- 
ous, and  non-poisonous — but  not  nearly  so  many 
as  is  generally  supposed.  One  may  be  able  to 
gain  some  idea  of  their  abundance  when  I  say 
that  our  safari  never  numbered  less  than  a  hun- 
dred porters  and  once  reached  three  hundred 
and  sixty -five,  and  that,  while  every  one  of  these 
men  was  a  collector  of  reptiles,  our  collection  of 
snakes  at  the  end  of  eleven  months  did  not 
exceed  a  hundred  specimens.     In  short,  snakes 

170 


AFRICAN  REPTILES  171 

were  not  so  common  as  in  the  southeastern  part 
of  the  United  States. 

The  general  interest  in  snakes  is  shown  by 
the  great  number  of  questions  asked  me,  and  I 
might  say  the  first  one  invariably  is:  "Did 
you  see  many  snakes?"  Most  people  are  pos- 
sessed with  a  desire  to  learn  something  of  this 
group  of  truly  wonderful  animals,  which  in  the 
next  breath  they  characterise  as  loathsome, 
uncanny,  and  repulsive.  This  feeling  is  born 
in  man,  civilised  and  uncivilised.  Our  porters 
feared  them  and  used  as  much  caution  in  killing 
a  harmless  species  as  they  did  when  attacking  a 
poisonous  one.  They  never  brought  us  a  snake 
without  exhibiting  a  certain  amount  of  childish 
heroism,  and  when  a  group  of  boys  was  seen 
bringing  in  a  snake  one  always  knew  that  it  was 
dead,  very  much  dead,  and  that  its  head,  if  it 
had  one,  was  pounded  to  a  pulp. 

In  The  Journal  of  the  East  African  and  Uganda 
Natural  History  Society,  Mr.  C.  W.  Hobley 
states  that  there  are  forty-one  species  of  snakes 
in  British  East  Africa,  of  which  ten  are  poison- 
ous. There  are  several  species  of  cobras  that 
eject  a  poisonous  fluid  at  an  enemy.  When  this 
fluid  gets  into  one's  eyes  it  has  no  worse  effect 


172    AFRICAN  ADVENTURE  STORIES 

than  to  render  him  partially  blind  for  a  few 
hours.  In  speaking  of  these  snakes  Colonel 
Roosevelt  says: 

"One  of  the  latter  three  times  'spat'  or 
ejected  its  poison  at  us,  the  poison  coming  from 
the  fangs  like  white  films  or  threads  to  a  dis- 
tance of  several  feet." 

Personally,  I  saw  about  a  dozen  snakes,  and 
none  of  these  was  poisonous.  Doctor  Mearns, 
while  hunting  one  day,  stepped  over  a  large 
puff-adder  lying  in  the  tall  grass,  and  his  gun 
bearer  was  about  to  follow  his  example  when 
the  snake  was  discovered  and  killed.  It  was  a 
very  thick-set,  stubby  beast,  with  a  bulldog-look- 
ing head  and  had  enormous  fangs .  At  Gondokoro 
one  of  our  porters,  while  arranging  his  blankets, 
was  struck  on  the  hand  by  what  he  supposed  to 
be  a  small  adder.  The  doctor  attended  him  at 
once,  so  he  suffered  no  severe  results,  being  able 
to  go  about  his  business  the  next  day. 

Our  party  killed  several  pythons  from  ten 
to  thirteen  feet  long — not  much  of  a  snake  when 
compared  to  the  pythons  of  India,  which  attain 
a  le^gth  little  short  of  thirty  feet.  Like  all  of 
these  big  snakes,  they  are  not  poisonous  but 
kill  their  prey  by  coiling  about  and  crushing  or 


AFRICAN  REPTILES  173 

strangling  it  to  death.  In  zoological  parks  I 
have  repeatedly  seen  a  python  kill  an  animal 
by  first  seizing  it  in  its  mouth  and,  instead  of 
actually  coiling  about  it,  catch  it  in  a  bend  or 
angle  of  the  body  and  crush  it  to  death.  An 
Indian  python  about  twenty-six  feet  long,  in  the 
New  York  Zoological  Park,  lately  devoured  a  pig 
that  weighed  sixty  pounds.  There  is  little  doubt 
that  an  African  python  twelve  feet  long  might 
swallow  an  animal  weighing  twenty  pounds. 

We  usually  found  these  big  snakes  near  water, 
where  they  were  seen  lying  out  on  the  rocks  or 
on  the  bank  sunning  themselves.  Aside  from 
startling  a  person  when  he  first  sees  or  almost 
steps  on  one,  they  are  harmless  creatures,  and 
when  disturbed  bolt  for  water  and  sink  from 
sight.  Their  food  consists  of  small  antelopes, 
hares,  monkeys,  small  mammals,  and  game- 
birds  such  as  guinea-fowls,  spur-fowls,  bustards, 
and  francolins. 

Colonel  Roosevelt  had  an  amusing  and  inter- 
esting experience  with  the  first  python  he  killed. 
He  and  Judd  were  hunting  along  the  bank  of  a 
river  when  one  of  the  gun  bearers  discovered  a 
python  coiled  under  a  tree.  The  colonel  fired 
and  hit  it  through  the  back;  the  snake  struck  at 


174    AFRICAN  ADVENTURE  STORIES 

him  with  its  open  jaws  and  then  came  gliding 
toward  him.  He  stepped  aside,  and  the  snake 
passed  over  the  spot  where  he  had  been  stand- 
ing. A  second  shot  killed  it.  The  colonel  does 
not  believe  the  python  really  meant  to  charge 
him  but  is  of  the  opinion  that  it  was  bewildered 
and  in  trying  to  escape  did  not  realise  in  what 
direction  it  was  making.  It  was  twelve  feet 
long. 

In  connection  with  the  above  remarks,  it 
might  be  well  to  chronicle  the  only  and  what 
seemed  to  be  authentic  record  that  came  to  our 
attention  of  an  African  python  attacking  a  per- 
son. Two  small  native  lads  were  sent  by  their 
master  to  the  banks  of  a  stream  to  cut  grass 
for  stock.  A  few  hours  later  they  appeared, 
staggering  under  the  weight  of  the  much-man- 
gled body  of  a  twelve-foot  python.  They  said 
that  while  one  of  them  was  on  his  knees  cutting 
grass  in  the  underbrush  he  was  suddenly  seized 
from  behind  by  a  python.  The  boy  called  to 
his  companion  for  aid,  and  the  two  finally  man- 
aged to  kill  the  snake  with  their  sickles  before 
it  had  seriously  wounded  them.  The  lad  who 
had  been  attacked  exhibited  a  lacerated  but- 
tock where  the  snake  had  bitten  him. 


AFRICAN  REPTILES  175 

Undoubtedly  the  python  saw  only  a  part  of 
the  boy's  body  in  the  grass  and,  being  hungry 
and  mistaking  the  lad  for  a  quadruped,  seized 
him  on  general  food  principles,  not  discovering 
the  mistake  until  too  late. 

A  porter  ran  into  camp  one  day  with  the  news 
that  a  large  python  was  lying  out  on  some 
rocks  by  the  side  of  a  stream,  not  far  away.  I 
snatched  my  shotgun  and  followed  the  boy.  On 
arriving  at  the  place  I  found  a  snake,  about 
ten  feet  long,  sunning  himself  on  some  rocks 
on  the  opposite  side  of  the  river.  There  was 
no  ford  nearer  than  two  miles,  so  I  contented 
myself  by  giving  the  reptile  a  charge  of  buck- 
shot from  where  I  stood.  The  snake  threw  its 
body  high  in  the  air,  whipped  about,  and 
plunged  into  the  water.  Three  days  later  it 
was  found  dead  floating  on  the  surface. 

On  another  occasion,  while  "driving,"  I  had 
an  experience  that,  for  a  second,  sent  a  cold  chill 
over  my  body.  Since  I  have  mentioned  "driv- 
ing," may  I  ask  the  reader's  indulgence  long 
enough  to  explain  this  most  interesting  and 
exciting  method  of  hunting,  although  it  is  en- 
tirely foreign  to  the  subject  of  reptiles. 

The  greater  part  of  British  East  Africa  is 


176    AFRICAN  ADVENTURE  STORIES 

plain  and  desert  country.  Here  and  there  are 
clusters  and  strips  of  bushes,  while  along  the 
streams,  pools,  swamps,  and  dry  watercourses 
are  thick  growths  of  underbrush  and  trees, 
spoken  of  as  "dongas."  During  daytime  all  of 
the  nocturnal  animals — lions,  leopards,  hyenas, 
jackals,  and  many  species  of  antelopes  as  well  as 
myriads  of  small  creatures — take  to  these  thick- 
ets to  rest  and  sleep,  and  for  protection  from 
the  sun. 

Selecting  a  "donga,*'  the  hunter  stations  his 
porters  at  intervals  of  ten  feet  across  one  end 
of  the  thicket.  At  a  given  signal  they  start 
toward  the  other  end,  shouting,  thrashing  the 
brush  with  sticks,  and  throwing  stones  and  clubs 
as  they  advance.  The  hunter,  on  the  outskirt, 
walks  along  a  hundred  yards  or  so  ahead  of 
the  beaters  and  shoots  the  game  as  it  is  driven 
from  cover. 

Anything  from  a  lion  to  a  hare  is  apt  to  burst 
into  view  without  a  second's  warning.  Guinea- 
fowls,  spur-fowls,  and  other  species  of  game- 
birds  rise  above  the  brush  and  seek  shelter 
farther  on.  The  true  big-game  hunter  always 
carries  his  heavy  rifle  and  orders  his  men  to  pay 
no  attention  to  birds  or  small  mammals;  but  we 


AFRICAN  REPTILES  177 

were  naturalists,  and  our  porters  had  learned 
that  we  wanted  nearly  everything,  so  they  made 
almost  as  much  noise  when  they  saw  a  dikdik 
or  a  hare  as  they  would  had  it  been  a  lion. 
Once  there  was  an  unusual  outcry  just  as  I  was 
in  the  act  of  shooting  at  a  guinea-fowl.  The 
gun  bearer  snatched  the  Ithaca  shotgun  from 
my  hands  and  replaced  it  with  the  cocked  rifle, 
and  I  heard  some  great  brute  tearing  through 
the  brush.  The  next  instant  a  leopard  bounded 
past,  but  the  openings  were  few  and  small;  so 
I  did  not  get  a  shot. 

Kermit  Roosevelt,  however,  killed  several 
leopards  in  this  manner,  one  of  which  charged  a 
porter  and  bit  and  scratched  him  severely  before 
it  was  finally  killed. 

These  brush  patches  teemed  with  animal  life, 
so  from  the  time  that  a  drive  began  until  the 
porters  had  passed  out  into  the  open  country 
at  the  other  end  it  was  one  continual  round  of 
excitement.  You  never  knew  what  kind  of  an 
animal  to  expect  next,  and,  no  matter  what  ap- 
peared, you  usually  had  the  wrong  gun. 

The  porters  also  bagged  their  share  of  game, 
for,  while  they  were  never  allowed  to  carry  guns, 
they  were  experts  at  throwing  clubs,  and  there 


178    AFRICAN  ADVENTURE  STORIES 

was  never  a  drive  made  that  they  did  not  cut 
down  several  guinea-fowls,  spur-fowls,  small 
antelopes,  or  hares.  Once  I  sent  out  a  gang  of 
ten  porters  to  find  a  secretary-bird  that  I  had 
winged  with  my  rifle,  and  after  chasing  it  some 
distance  had  seen  enter  a  "donga"  a  mile  away. 
They  not  only  returned  with  the  secretary-bird, 
but  with  three  hares,  two  spur-fowls,  and  a 
guinea-fowl,  all  of  which  they  had  knocked  down 
with  sticks  as  the  game  tried  to  escape. 

But  to  return  to  snakes.  We  were  driving 
a  small  "donga"  bordering  a  stream  in  the 
N'Guasso  Nyero  country  and  were  having  fine 
luck.  First  three  mongooses  came  out,  but 
they  were  so  far  away  that  my  shots  only 
turned  them  back  into  the  thicket.  Next  a 
dikdik  appeared,  then  a  steinbuck,  and  a  few 
seconds  later  a  flock  of  spur-fowls.  I  fired  at 
and  wounded  one  of  them,  and  it  settled  in  the 
brush  under  the  ten-foot  cut  bank  of  the  stream. 
Hoping  that  the  bird  would  again  flush,  I  sent 
my  gun  bearer  down  to  drive  it  out.  I  was 
walking  through  the  tall  grass  on  top  of  the 
bank,  when,  on  glancing  down,  I  saw  four  feet 
of  python,  another  step  and  I  would  have 
trodden  on  it.     I  leaped  over   it  and  at  the 


AFRICAN  REPTILES  179 

same  instant  shouted:  "Snake!"  The  python 
fairly  bounded  over  the  bank  and  into  the 
water,  almost  colliding  with  the  gun  bearer,  who 
the  next  instant  came  rushing  up  to  me,  his 
eyes  bulging  from  their  sockets.  How  long  the 
snake  was  I  cannot  truthfully  say,  but,  as  I  saw 
four  feet  of  it  and  my  gun  bearer  six,  I  figured 
that  it  was  either  forty-six  or  sixty-four  feet 
long. 

It  developed  later  that  I  had  made  a  "double 
shot"  when  I  fired  at  the  spur-fowl,  for  one 
of  the  porters  had  strayed  ahead  of  the  fine  of 
beaters  and  had  been  struck  in  the  arm  by  one 
of  the  spent  shot.  After  the  drive  was  over  he 
sought  me  for  an  explanation,  at  the  same  time 
exhibiting  the  shot  which  he  had  picked  out  of 
the  skin.  I  told  my  tent  boy  to  tell  him  that 
if  he  had  obeyed  orders  and  kept  in  fine  he 
would  not  have  been  shot.  Although  it  was  a 
slight  wound,  I  gave  him  thirty-three  cents — a 
rupee — and  he  went  away  quite  jubilant. 

Another  interesting  reptile  that  we  found 
very  common  in  certain  sections  of  Africa  was 
the  horned  or  "rhinoceros"  chameleon.  This 
creature  is  about  eight  inches  long  and  has  three 
horns,  an  inch  in  length,  protruding  from  the 


180    AFRICAN  ADVENTURE  STORIES 

top  of  its  head.  Its  eyes  work  on  the  ball-and- 
socket  plan  and  roll  about  in  a  most  comical 
fashion.  The  eyes  are  independent  of  each 
other  and  the  animal  can  look  in  two  direc- 
tions at  once  without  turning  its  head;  it  simply 
holds  one  eye  stationary  and  rolls  the  other  for- 
ward, backward,  up,  or  down  to  suit  its  wishes. 

Next  to  its  eyes,  its  tongue  is  the  most  won- 
derful part  of  its  anatomy,  being  quite  the  length 
of  its  body.  In  feeding  it  perches  motionless 
on  a  limb  and  waits  for  its  prey  to  come  within 
reach.  Should  a  fly  or  an  insect  light  out  of 
range,  it  slowly  and  deliberately  walks  hand 
over  hand  out  on  the  limb,  takes  steady  aim,  and 
with  a  lightning-like  thrust  its  long  tongue 
darts  from  its  mouth,  and  the  fly  is  glued  to  the 
gummy,  club-shaped  end  and  drawn  into  its 
throat. 

As  one  travels  along  a  trail  where  the  bushes 
overlap,  his  head  frequently  comes  in  contact 
with  these  queer  creatures  clinging  to  the 
branches  by  their  feet  and  their  prehensile  tails. 
There  they  sit  rolling  their  eyes  about  in  oppo- 
site directions  in  a  most  uncanny  manner  as 
they  survey  the  various  members  of  the  party. 

Dangerous  as  the  rhinoceros  chameleon  looks. 


AFRICAN  REPTILES  181 

it  is  perfectly  harmless  and  so  listless  that  it 
does  not  attempt  to  escape  or  even  move  when 
discovered.  Strange  to  say,  the  blacks  had  not 
learned  this  and  held  them  in  great  fear.  As 
soon  as  they  discovered  the  nature  of  our  work 
they  began  to  bring  us  specimens,  and  in  a 
short  time  there  was  a  throng  of  people  waiting 
outside  of  the  tent  to  be  paid  for  the  creatures 
they  had  captured.  Every  one  was  anxious  to 
dispose  of  his  prize  as  soon  as  possible,  so  that 
he  might  hurry  away  for  another;  but  they 
brought  in  the  specimens  faster  than  we  could 
handle  them,  consequently  the  "congestion." 
Whenever  a  new  arrival  appeared  with  a  cha- 
meleon, he  caused  a  stampede  by  shouting  a 
warning  and  then  thrust  into  the  crowd  the 
branch  to  which  the  animal  was  clinging.  The 
throng  immediately  gave  way,  at  the  same  time 
fiercely  upbraiding  the  man  for  so  ruthlessly 
endangering  their  lives,  as  they  supposed. 

As  the  natives  had  no  idea  why  we  wished 
these  animals,  they  thought  that  we  must  be 
crazy,  and  the  head  man  said  they  had  told  him 
they  thought  we  were  collecting  them  to  make 
medicine  of,  and  as  soon  as  we  left  the  country 
there  would  be  no  more  sleeping  sickness. 


182    AFRICAN  ADVENTURE  STORIES 

In  the  Lado  Enclave  country  there  lives  a 
lizard-like  animal  known  as  a  monitor.  These 
lizards  sometimes  attain  a  length  of  four  feet. 
They  are  perfectly  harmless  so  far  as  being 
poisonous  is  concerned.  Although  one  might 
give  a  person  a  bad  bite  if  he  attempted  to  pick 
it  up;  at  the  slightest  sign  of  danger  they  scurry 
into  the  bushes  or  into  the  water,  near  which 
they  are  usually  found.  They  live  in  holes  in 
the  ground  and  feed  upon  rats,  mice,  snakes, 
other  lizards,  birds,  and  crocodile's  eggs. 

While  digging  a  pit  for  garbage  our  porters 
unearthed  what  we  took  to  be  a  monitor's  nest, 
some  three  feet  under  ground.  It  contained 
several  leathery-skinned,  dirty  white  eggs. 

One  afternoon  I  surprised  a  monitor  looting  a 
crocodile's  nest.  The  nest  was  on  a  high,  sandy 
bank  close  to  the  Nile,  and  the  eggs  had  been 
covered  with  dirt  and  rubbish  by  the  old  croco- 
dile. On  seeing  me  the  monitor  scurried  over 
the  bank  and  into  the  river.  I  hid  in  some 
brush  near  by  and  waited  for  the  creature  to 
return.  Within  fifteen  minutes  I  heard  it 
crawling  out  of  the  water  and  over  the  dry  dead 
rushes,  and  then  it  poked  its  head  above  the 
steep  bank  and  looked  about.     At  first  it  acted 


AFRICAN  REPTILES  183 

as  if  suspicious,  but  finally  it  gained  confidence 
and  came  boldly  forward. 

Crawling  to  the  crocodile's  nest,  it  picked  up 
an  egg  in  its  mouth  and  retreated  to  a  clump 
of  bushes.  I  watched  it  take  several  eggs,  and 
each  time  it  returned  to  the  bushes,  crushed 
the  egg  between  its  jaws,  then  dropped  it,  and 
lapped  up  the  contents  with  its  long  forked 
tongue. 

Finally  I  frightened  it  away,  and,  taking  some 
of  the  eggs  from  the  nest,  I  arranged  them  in  an 
open  spot  near  by,  set  up  my  camera,  and  to 
the  shutter  attached  a  long  string  which  ran  to 
a  tree  where  I  hid.  In  this  manner  I  succeeded 
in  securing  two  excellent  photographs  of  the 
monitor  with  eggs  in  its  mouth,  probably  the 
only  ones  of  the  kind  ever  secured,  although  it 
had  been  generally  believed  for  years  that  moni- 
tors ate  crocodile's  eggs. 

This  creature  must  be  one  of  the  crocodile's 
worst  enemies,  for  I  found  several  nests  that  had 
been  robbed  in  this  way,  and  Kermit  Roosevelt 
also  discovered  a  monitor  robbing  a  croc's  nest 
while  the  owner  lay  asleep  only  a  few  yards  off. 


CHAPTER  XIV 

A  FIGHT  WITH   "  HIPPOS " 

BACK  in  the  early  days,"  my  friend 
Bancroft  began,  "the  mail  that  supplied 
the  garrisons  in  Central  Africa  was 
brought  by  flat-bottom  steamers  up  the  Nile 
from  Khartoum  to  Gondokoro.  From  there 
carriers  transported  it  overland  to  Nimule,  a 
distance  of  one  hundred  and  sixty  miles.  At 
Nimule  I  received  it  and  distributed  it  to  the 
army  and  trading  posts  along  the  White  Nile 
and  in  the  region  of  Lake  Albert.  I  always 
made  the  trip  by  canoe. 

"One  spring  morning  I  left  Nimule  with  the 
usual  consignment  of  mail-sacks  and  began  the 
three-hundred-mile  journey  up  the  White  Nile. 
My  water  caravan  consisted  of  two  large  native 
dugout  canoes,  made  each  from  a  single  log 
and  manned  by  four  stalwart  Baganda  blacks. 

"On  both  sides  of  the  river  for  almost  the 
entire  distance  there  were  great  areas  of  papy- 
rus from  fifteen  feet  to  a  mile  wide.     For  miles 

181 


A  FIGHT  WITH  "HIPPOS"        185 

the  dark-green  tasselled  stalks,  ten  feet  tall, 
swayed  in  the  breeze  like  a  gigantic  field  of 
rye. 

"Hippopotami  were  abundant  and  were 
known  frequently  to  upset  native  canoes.  To 
guard  against  losing  the  mail  by  such  accidents, 
the  government  supplied  me  with  water-tight 
rubber  bags.  The  sacks  were  placed  in  these 
bags  and  there  was  a  wooden  float  with  seventy- 
five  feet  of  stout  cord  attached  to  each  bag. 
Thus  we  could  easily  recover  the  sacks  in  case 
of  a  mishap. 

"As  we  paddled  slowly  against  the  rapid  cur- 
rent of  the  muddy  river,  noisy  fish-eagles  with 
white  heads  and  tails  circled  overhead  or  settled 
in  the  trees,  sometimes  not  more  than  thirty 
feet  away.  Myriads  of  cormorants  and  snake- 
birds,  perched  in  clusters  along  the  banks, 
stretched  out  their  wings  as  if  taking  a  sun-bath; 
as  we  drew  near  they  took  flight  or  plunged 
into  the  water.  Occasionally  we  saw  a  troop 
of  baboons  running  along  a  high,  stony  bank, 
playing  with  one  another. 

"Now  and  then  we  came  upon  a  herd  of 
hippos.  Some  were  floating  leisurely  on  the  sur- 
face, others  were  huddled  close  together  on  a 


186    AFRICAN  ADVENTURE  STORIES 

bar  or  small  island  or  lying  asleep  in  the  edge 
of  the  papyrus.  As  we  approached  they  lifted 
their  heads  to  gaze  at  us  and  then  slowly  took 
to  the  water.  In  a  few  minutes  they  usually 
appeared  again  some  distance  away.  We  paid 
little  attention  to  them  unless  we  thought  that 
a  hippo  was  coming  to  the  surface  close  to  one 
of  the  boats.  Then  I  would  take  the  rifle  and 
stand  guard  until  the  danger  was  over. 

"One  day  was  quite  like  another.  To  break 
the  monotony  and  to  furnish  a  little  excitement 
for  the  men,  I  occasionally  took  a  shot  at  a 
crocodile  on  the  bank.  We  would  then  stop 
long  enough  for  the  boys  to  wrench  out  the 
teeth,  which  they  either  made  into  necklaces  or 
traded  for  food  with  the  natives  whose  villages 
we  passed. 

"They  were  an  interesting  people,  those  jolly, 
black-skinned  villagers.  As  soon  as  we  came  in 
sight  of  a  town  the  inhabitants  rushed  from  their 
huts  and  followed  along  the  bank,  laughing  and 
joking  with  my  men,  and  trying  to  persuade  us  to 
land  and  barter.  The  women  and  children  who 
tended  wickerwork  fish-traps  presented  us  with 
specimens  of  their  catch  and  were  greatly  pleased 
with  the  trifling  gifts  we  gave  them  in  return. 


A  FIGHT  WITH  "HIPPOS"       187 

"We  had  passed  a  village  and  were  skimming 
along  close  to  the  papyrus,  when  suddenly  the 
canoe  shot  across  the  mouth  of  a  small  estuary 
that  the  high  papyrus  growth  had  completely 
hidden.  The  other  craft  was  following  close 
behind,  and  the  two  boats  were  in  a  position 
to  blockade  the  mouth  of  the  little  bay,  when  I 
heard  a  terrific  splashing  of  water.  I  turned 
instantly  and  saw  that  we  had  surprised  a 
herd  of  about  ten  hippos  in  the  edge  of  the 
papyrus. 

"Our  sudden  appearance  had  startled  them, 
and  so  strong  was  their  instinct  to  seek  refuge 
in  deep  water  that  with  one  accord  the  entire 
herd  tumbled  off  the  bank  and  came  splashing 
down  upon  us. 

"I  snatched  my  rifle  and  turned  to  fire. 
There  was  no  time  to  aim  carefully  for  the 
brutes  were  less  than  thirty  feet  away.  So, 
hoping  that  the  noise  and  flash  might  split  the 
herd  and  cause  the  hippos  to  pass  round  us,  I 
simply  pointed  the  weapon  at  the  head  of  a 
large  bull  and  pulled  the  trigger. 

"The  struggling  creatures  did  not  swerve 
from  their  course.  When,  however,  they  had 
come  so  close  that  I  could  almost  have  touched 


188    AFRICAN  ADVENTURE  STORIES 

them  with  a  paddle,  they  reached  deeper  water 
and,  sinking  quickly,  disappeared.  The  next 
thing  I  knew,  the  canoe  was  lifted  high  into  the 
air,  and  we  were  dumped  into  the  water. 

"I  struck  on  my  back,  and  at  the  same 
moment  something  hit  me  a  terrific  blow  that 
drove  me  beneath  the  surface.  There  I  was 
bumped  and  jostled  about  for  what  seemed  an 
age.  When  at  last  I  came  to  the  surface,  I 
saw  that  both  the  canoes  were  bottom  side  up 
and  that  the  men  were  floundering  in  the  river. 
A  long,  black  arm  shot  out  of  the  water  in  front 
of  me.  I  seized  it  with  my  left  hand  and  swam 
with  the  half-drowned  boatman  to  the  canoe, 
where  I  supported  him  until  he  stopped  choking 
and  coughing. 

"Two  men  were  clinging  to  the  mail-sack 
buoys  and  shouting  for  dear  life.  Another 
fellow,  hanging  to  the  second  canoe,  was  hold- 
ing up  a  companion  who  had  been  stunned  by 
a  glancing  blow  on  the  head  when  the  canoe 
fell  back  into  the  water.  No  one  was  seriously 
hurt. 

"The  natives  in  the  village,  attracted  by  the 
rifle-shot  and  the  shouts,  could  see  our  predic- 
ament from  the  high  bank.     Some  came  to  our 


A  FIGHT  WITH  "HIPPOS"       189 

assistance  in  canoes;  others  ran  along  the  bank 
and  added  to  the  fright  of  my  already  terrified 
boys  by  telling  them  that  the  place  swarmed 
with  crocodiles.  However  true  that  may  have 
been,  there  was  little  danger  from  them  now, 
for  the  herd  of  floundering  hippos  must  have 
scared  every  crocodile  away  from  that  part  of 
the  Nile. 

"In  a  few  minutes  we  were  hauled  into 
canoes,  and  then,  after  recovering  the  mail- 
sacks,  we  towed  our  canoes  down  to  the  village 
and  emptied  them  of  water. 

"Presently  I  saw  numbers  of  natives  emerg- 
ing from  their  huts  with  long-bladed  barbed 
spears,  and  learned  that  they  were  going  in 
pursuit  of  the  hippo  I  had  wounded.  One  of 
them  had  seen  it  enter  a  marshy  strip  of  papy- 
rus on  the  opposite  side  of  the  river.  I  tried 
to  persuade  them  that  it  would  be  foolhardy  to 
attempt  such  a  thing  without  a  rifle,  and  told 
them  that  my  rifle  was  at  the  bottom  of  the 
river  where  the  canoes  had  capsized.  They 
replied  that  they  had  often  killed  hippos  with 
spears  and  would  show  me  how  it  was  done. 

"About  a  dozen  canoes  were  launched.  Each 
one  was  manned  by  four  paddlers,  and  by  a 


190    AFRICAN  ADVENTURE  STORIES 

spearman  who  took  a  position  in  the  bow. 
In  the  bottom  of  each  canoe  was  a  bundle  of 
spears.  To  the  shaft  of  one  of  the  weapons 
was  tied  about  forty  feet  of  rawhide  rope;  the 
other  end  of  the  rope  was  fastened  to  a  large 
chunk  of  wood. 

"With  about  two  hundred  of  the  villagers  I 
went  to  the  high  bank  overlooking  the  scene. 
The  canoes  divided  and  lined  up  about  fifty 
feet  apart  on  each  side  of  the  spot  where  the 
hippo  had  entered  the  papyrus.  One  canoe 
landed  some  distance  away  and  several  men 
started  on  a  circuit  to  get  behind  the  animal. 
We  could  hear  them  thrashing  about  in  the 
reeds,  but  it  was  fully  fifteen  minutes  before 
they  found  the  hippo  and,  by  shouting,  started 
him  toward  the  river. 

"As  soon  as  the  beaters  gave  the  alarm 
the  spearmen  stood  up  in  the  bows  of  the  ca- 
noes, each  with  a  spear  poised  above  his  head, 
and  waited  breathlessly  for  the  brute  to  show 
himself. 

"The  crashing  of  the  papyrus  and  the  swaying 
of  the  tasselled  tops  announced  his  coming;  the 
next  second  he  broke  from  cover.  Before  he 
could  plunge  into  the  river  several  of  the  barbed 


A  FIGHT  WITH  "HIPPOS'*       191 

spears  were  hurled  into  his  body.  Then,  as 
the  men  in  the  canoes  hurriedly  tossed  the 
wooden  floats  overboard,  he  disappeared  be- 
neath the  surface.  For  a  moment  the  floats 
bobbed  up  and  down;  then,  with  a  jerk  that 
pulled  some  of  them  under  water,  they  started 
off. 

"At  first  the  hippo  swam,  or  ran  along  the 
bottom  of  the  river  so  fast  that  the  canoemen 
could  hardly  keep  up  with  him.  He  was  so  far 
below  the  surface  that  he  did  not  make  a  rip- 
ple, and  had  it  not  been  for  the  floats  there 
would  have  been  no  way  of  telling  the  crea- 
ture's whereabouts. 

"Some  of  the  canoes  followed  close  behind; 
others  hurried  ahead  of  the  buoys  and  kept 
about  twenty  feet  on  either  side  of  the  spot 
where  the  hippo  would  soon  come  to  the  sur- 
face. Since  enough  of  the  buoyed  spears  had 
been  attached  to  the  animal  to  mark  his  posi- 
tion, the  spearmen  now  armed  themselves  with 
free  lances;  in  the  bow  of  each  craft  stood  a 
stalwart  fellow  ready  to  plunge  a  weapon  into 
the  hippo  the  instant  he  appeared. 

"At  that  point  the  river  was  about  three  hun- 
dred yards  wide.     For  some  distance  the  animal 


192    AFRICAN  ADVENTURE  STORIES 

headed  straight  across;  then  the  floats  suddenly 
turned  to  the  right,  down-stream.  The  canoe- 
men  quickly  changed  their  course.  Those  on 
the  right  side  paddled  vigorously  for  fear  that 
the  beast  was  charging  or  that  he  might  come 
up  under  the  canoes  and  capsize  them. 

"Just  then  his  head  appeared  above  water; 
but  when  he  saw  the  canoes  he  dived  before 
any  one  had  time  to  throw  a  spear,  and  again 
the  floats  moved  down-stream  at  a  rapid  rate. 

"The  second  time  that  the  hippo  rose,  two 
of  the  spearmen  hit  him,  and  as  the  spears 
sank  into  the  flesh  the  great  brute  threw  him- 
self into  the  air  and  fell  back  with  a  mighty 
splash. 

"The  natives  were  now  worked  up  to  the 
highest  pitch  of  excitement.  There  seemed  to 
be  no  leader;  every  one  was  shouting  orders, 
and  each  canoe  went  wherever  the  fancy  of  its 
crew  took  it.  Whenever  the  hippo  made  a 
sudden  turn  the  paddlers  would  skilfully  wheel 
their  craft  and  race  off  in  another  direction. 
As  a  result,  there  were  frequent  colUsions  and 
narrow  escapes  from  upsetting. 

"Each  time  the  hippo  appeared  they  sent 
home   several   more   spears.     He   fast   became 


A  FIGHT  WITH  "HIPPOS"       193 

exhausted;  the  time  that  he  remained  under 
water  and  the  distance  that  he  travelled  became 
shorter  with  each  successive  dive.  It  seemed 
strange  that  he  endured  the  torture  so  long  with- 
out attacking  the  canoes. 

"Suddenly,  while  the  boats  were  huddled 
close  together,  the  floats  stopped.  To  the  ex- 
perienced hunters  that  must  have  been  a  signal 
of  approaching  danger,  for,  as  if  by  magic, 
silence  reigned,  and  some  of  the  men  began  to 
back  frantically. 

"Again  the  spears  were  poised  in  the  air  and 
again  the  great  head  burst  from  the  water  in 
front  of  the  fleet.  But  this  time,  instead  of 
diving,  the  animal  hurled  itself  at  one  of  the 
canoes.  The  beast's  blunt  muzzle  struck  the 
craft  amidships  and  tossed  it  into  the  air.  It 
landed  squarely  across  a  canoe  near  by,  and  both 
were  swamped. 

"The  other  canoes  raced  to  the  rescue  of  the 
ten  men  struggling  in  the  water.  The  air  was 
filled  with  spears,  but  they  seemed  to  have  no 
more  effect  on  the  animal  than  so  many  pin- 
pricks. 

"In  the  din  caused  by  the  shouting  of  the  men, 
the  bellowing  of  the  infuriated  beast,  and  the 


194    AFRICAN  ADVENTURE  STORIES 

splashing  of  the  water,  the  hippo's  head  would 
suddenly  appear  among  the  canoes.  I  heard 
the  crunching  of  wood  as  canoe  after  canoe  was 
crushed  to  pieces  in  the  vice-like  jaws.  Men 
were  falling  or  jumping  into  the  river  to  escape 
the  maddened  monster.  The  sun,  striking  the 
polished  blades  of  the  spears,  shot  flashes  of 
dazzling  light  across  the  water. 

"I  could  not  help  admiring  the  wounded 
brute  which  was  fighting  so  courageously 
against  such  tremendous  odds.  Its  body  so 
bristled  with  swaying  spears  that  it  had  the 
appearance  of  a  gigantic  porcupine. 

*'In  the  confusion,  things  happened  fast  and 
furiously.  All  at  once  I  discovered  that  the 
hippo  had  disappeared;  the  blacks,  paddling 
back  and  forth  and  scanning  the  water  eagerly, 
were  searching  for  their  missing  comrades. 
How  many  were  drowned  or  killed  I  do  not 
know.  Several  of  the  canoes  had  been  smashed 
into  kindling-wood,  and  most  of  the  men  who 
had  occupied  them  had  been  taken  into  the 
other  boats  with  the  wounded. 

"I  noticed  that  the  natives  who  had  watched 
the  fight  were  leaving  me  and  running  along 
the  bank.     Then  I  saw  the  floats  some  distance 


A  FIGHT  WITH  "HIPPOS"       195 

below;  they  were  moving  slowly,  merely  drift- 
ing along.  Occasionally  they  would  stop  for 
an  instant  and  then  start  again,  as  if  the  object 
to  which  they  were  attached  was  bumping  over 
the  river  bed. 

"The  canoemen  finally  left  the  wreckage  and, 
paddling  down-stream,  caught  the  buoys  and 
began  to  tow  the  dead  hippo  ashore.  As  soon 
as  the  body  reached  shallow  water  the  natives 
waded  in  and  pulled  out  the  spears  so  that  they 
should  not  be  bent  or  broken;  then  they  fast- 
ened ropes  to  the  body  and  hauled  it  out  on 
the  bank,  where  the  task  of  cutting  up  the  meat 
began. 

"With  my  boys  I  went  back  to  the  scene  of 
our  first  encounter  with  the  hippos  and,  by  div- 
ing, recovered  my  rifle  and  some  of  the  cooking 
utensils.  After  purchasing  from  the  natives 
enough  food  to  last  us  until  we  reached  the  next 
army  post,  we  continued  our  journey  with  the 
mail." 


CHAPTER  XV 

WILD   ANIMALS    I    HAVE    "et" 

NO  matter  how  fastidious  a  man  may  be 
before  he  becomes  a  "field  natural- 
ist," after  he  has  kicked  about  the 
country  a  few  years,  cooking  his  own  meals 
over  a  camp-fire  and  eating  those  served  to 
him  by  all  classes,  creeds,  and  nationalties,  he 
discovers  that  his  stomach  is  really  not  so  crit- 
ical as  he  had  once  supposed  it  to  be.  Fresh 
air,  hard  work,  and  plenty  of  outdoor  exercise 
give  him  an  appetite  that  dulls  his  epicurean 
sense  and  causes  him  to  forget  polished  china- 
ware,  clean  linen,  good  seasoning,  and  delicate 
dishes.  He  may  not  relish  improperly  cooked 
food,  or  meat  the  antiquity  of  which  cannot 
be  questioned,  still  he  finds  himself  eating  it 
with  a  relish  that  a  few  years  before  he  would 
have  thought  impossible.  Such  common  cir- 
cumstances as  a  caterpillar,  a  yellow-jacket,  or 
a  horse-fly  dropping  suddenly  into  his  soup,  in- 
stead of  causing  him  to  leave  the  meal  in  dis- 

196 


WILD  ANIMALS  I  HAVE   "ET"     197 

gust  only  disconcert  him  during  the  process  of 
their  extraction. 

As  time  goes  on  and  he  becomes  more  fa- 
miliar with  the  life  histories  of  the  animals,  he 
discovers  also  that  many  of  the  beasts  of  the 
fields  and  forests  are  far  cleaner  in  their  tastes 
than  our  domesticated  animals.  For  instance, 
"What  Doesn't  a  Chicken  Eat?"  would  be  a  far 
more  appropriate  subject  for  a  church  debating 
society  to  argue  after  a  chicken  supper  than  be- 
fore, and  the  same  can  be  said  of  swine.  But 
should  I  send  out  an  invitation  to  a  banquet 
and  head  the  menu  with  a  stew  composed  of 
what  are  generally  termed  "rats  and  mice," 
how  many  covers  could  I  count'on?  While  rats 
and  mice  are  hardly  proper  to  serve  to  one's 
friends,  so  long  as  we  eat  rabbits  and  squirrels, 
which  belong  to  the  same  order,  there  is  no  rea- 
son why  we  should  not  consider  field  and  forest 
rats  and  mice  edible.  They  feed  on  fruits, 
seeds,  roots,  grasses,  vegetables,  and  bark,  and 
are  exceedingly  cleaner  in  their  habits.  The 
meadow-mouse,  or  field-mouse,  spends  much  of 
its  time  cleaning  itself  with  its  tiny  front  feet, 
and  its  living-rooms  are  as  clean  and  sanitary  as 
they  are  in  any  house  or  hotel.     This  is  not 


198    AFRICAN  ADVENTURE  STORIES 

only  true  of  the  meadow-mouse,  but  also  of 
most  rodents  that  live  in  a  fixed  abode. 

Our  highest  camp  in  British  East  Africa  was 
on  Mount  Kenia,  at  an  altitude  of  thirteen  thou- 
sand seven  hundred  feet.  Here  Doctor  Mearns 
and  I  remained  four  days,  Colonel  Roosevelt, 
in  the  meantime,  having  passed  around  to  the 
opposite  side  of  the  mountain  to  collect  a  group 
of  elephants  for  the  Smithsonian  Institution. 
We  were  above  the  heavy  timber  and  even 
beyond  the  bamboo  belt,  but  there  were  a  few 
patches  of  stunted  heather  here  and  there. 
Although  the  equator  crossed  the  mountain 
peak  a  mile  or  so  to  the  east,  the  nights  were  so 
cold  that  half  an  inch  of  ice  formed  on  buckets 
of  water  standing  outside  the  tent. 

We  had  plenty  of  tinned  food,  but  fresh  meat 
was  scarce,  which  naturally  increased  our  desire 
for  it.  One  or  two  small  antelopes  were  seen 
about  the  rocky  ridges,  but  we  failed  to  shoot 
any.  Our  work  consisted  in  collecting  birds  and 
small  mammals,  and  we  found  the  latter  well 
represented  by  numerous  species  of  rodents — 
rats  and  mice. 

The  mountain  hyrax — an  animal  somewhat 
resembling  a  guinea-pig  but  the  size  of  a  wood- 


WILD  ANIMALS  I  HAVE   "ET"    199 

chuck  or  ground-hog — was  common  in  the  cHffs 
and  rocks,  and  they  helped  to  supply  our  larder. 
From  the  time  the  camp-fire  was  kindled  until 
we  left  the  locality  four  days  later,  the  body  of 
every  insectivorous  and  seed-eating  bird,  every 
hyrax  and  every  rat  and  mouse  that  we  skinned, 
was  cleaned  and  thrown  into  a  pot  of  boiling 
rice. 

At  the  expiration  of  a  day  the  contents  of 
that  pot  had  grown  to  wonderful,  not  to  say 
questionable,  proportions,  but  diminished  with 
equal  rapidity  as  each  onslaught  was  made  upon 
it.  Our  stay  was  so  limited  and  the  locality 
so  valuable,  from  a  naturalist's  standpoint,  that 
we  wasted  no  time  waiting  for  meals.  We  ate 
when  we  were  hungry,  regardless  of  each  other's 
society,  and  the  last  man  to  leave  camp  piled 
faggots  on  the  fire  and  the  first  one  to  return 
rekindled  it.  In  this  manner  our  "vaudeville 
stew,"  as  we  learned  to  call  it,  was  ready  day 
and  night,  and,  unlike  the  traditional  "watched 
pot,"  it  always  boiled.  In  consequence,  our 
culinary  duties  were  few,  although,  of  course,  it 
took  five  times  as  long  to  cook  meat  at  that 
high  altitude  as  it  would  in  the  lowlands.  The 
coffee-pot  always  stood  near  the  fire,  so  a  few 


200    AFRICAN  ADVENTURE  STORIES 

minutes  only  were  necessary  to  bring  it  to  a  boil. 
Then  we  would  fish  about  in  the  pot  with  a  fork 
until  we  had  captured  the  well-done  bodies  of 
several  rats  or  mice  and  three  or  four  birds — 
varying  in  size  from  half  a  mouthful  to  three 
mouthfuls — and  begin  our  meal.  The  mice 
and  birds  were  the  first  to  be  exterminated,  for 
they  were  tender,  juicy,  and  sweet,  and,  while 
the  variety  of  species  might  have  caused  a  vari- 
ety of  flavours,  there  was  not  enough  difference 
to  leave  an  impression  that  can  now  be  ex- 
plained. Doctor  Mearns  always  declared  with 
emphasis,  that  our  "witches'  pot"  was  the  best 
eating  he  had  on  the  whole  trip. 

Since  eating  fried  monkey,  I  have  never 
been  able  to  look  a  new  baby  square  in  the 
face,  and  it  is  with  a  feeling  of  dread  that  I 
accept  an  invitation  from  a  friend  to  call  and 
pass  judgment  upon  the  latest  addition  to  his 
family. 

Although  there  was  plenty  of  monkey  meat 
to  go  around — in  fact,  there  was  "some  left 
over" — I  didn't  eat  much  because  my  stupid 
Swahili  tent  boy  who  cooked  it  had  thought- 
lessly failed  to  include  some  sort  of  strong  dis- 
infectant among  his  seasonings. 


WILD  ANIMALS  I  HAVE  "ET"    201 

Parrots  were  really  delicious  eating,  and  we 
made  use  of  the  body  of  every  one  we  collected. 
I  seldom  shot  one  without  half  expecting  to  see 
a  window  open  somewhere  and  hear  an  old  maid's 
voice  reproaching  me  for  the  act. 

In  Uganda,  while  passing  between  Lake  Vic- 
toria and  Lake  Albert,  Colonel  Roosevelt  killed 
a  rogue  elephant  that  had  been  destroying  the 
gardens,  tearing  down  the  huts,  and  doing  other 
mischief. 

Our  cook  made  soup  from  the  trunk.  It  was 
thick  and  dark-coloured,  and,  while  the  taste  was 
strong,  I  enjoyed  it  enough  to  ask  for  a  second 
dish.  Of  course,  only  a  small  portion  of  the 
trunk  was  used  and  the  excessive  heat  of  Uganda 
would  not  permit  a  second  meal  from  it  after 
twenty -four  hours.  Not  so  with  the  blacks,  how- 
ever, for  the  following  morning  I  was  surprised 
and  amused  to  see  one  of  our  porters  stalking 
down  the  trail  under  the  broiling  sun  with  about 
two  feet  of  the  trunk  tied  to  his  pack,  the  blood 
and  grease  oozing  out  of  it  and  flowing  down  the 
sides  of  his  load. 

The  morning  following  the  rogue's  death, 
we  went  out  with  a  number  of  the  natives  to 
view  the  animal.     After  the  tusks  had  been 


202     AFRICAN  ADVENTURE  STORIES 

chopped  out  and  the  trunk  and  feet  amputated 
for  trophies  and  food,  the  blacks  fell  upon  the 
carcass  with  avidity.  The  heart  is  considered  a 
great  delicacy,  so,  while  some  were  busy  hacking 
off  great  chunks  of  meat  others  were  cutting  a 
hole  through  the  belly  of  the  animal,  and,  this 
having  been  accompHshed,  one  of  the  men 
worked  his  way  in  until  he  was  half  submerged. 
How  he  managed  to  remain  long  enough  to 
secure  the  prize  without  being  smothered  is 
more  than  I  can  explain.  Finally,  his  comrades 
hauled  him  out  by  the  feet,  and  his  appearance 
as  he  emerged,  dragging  the  animal's  heart  after 
him,  is  better  left  to  one's  imagination. 

Kermit  Roosevelt  once  came  upon  a  band  of 
blacks  who  for  several  days  had  been  tracking 
an  elephant  that  they  had  shot  and  speared 
with  poison-tipped  weapons.  The  animal  finally 
died,  and,  judging  from  the  stench,  which  was 
unbearable,  must  have  been  dead  some  time,  yet 
the  natives  were  cutting  off  the  meat  in  great 
chunks  and  eating  it  raw. 

Rhinoceros  tongue  ]  and  hippopotamus  tail 
soup  were  other  dishes  that  were  served  us. 
The  former  tasted  not  unlike  beef's  tongue; 
that  is,  it  so  closely  resembled  tongue  of  some 


WILD  ANIMALS  I  HAVE   "ET"  203 

sort  as  to  be  instantly  recognised,  though  it  was 
too  strong  to  be  good. 

Speaking  generally,  the  game  of  British  East 
Africa  does  not  compare  with  the  meat  of  our 
American  game  animals;  for,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  the  eland  and  the  hippo,  it  is  dry,  though 
tender  when  young,  and  lacks  the  fat  necessary 
to  give  it  the  delicious,  palatable  flavour  pos- 
sessed by  our  deer,  antelope,  and  mountain-sheep. 

After  we  had  skinned  an  animal  and  turned 
the  body  over  to  them,  our  porters  fought  over 
the  division  of  the  meat,  and  we  soon  dis- 
covered that  the  only  way  to  keep  peace  in 
camp  was  to  deal  the  meat  out  ourselves. 
Many  times  I  have  cut  off  pieces  of  zebra  meat 
drying  before  their  camp-fires  and  munched  it 
as  I  travelled  along  the  trail.  It  made  an  excel- 
lent substitute  for  gum,  and,  while  sweet  and 
palatable,  a  small  piece  would  last  indefinitely. 
Chew,  chew,  chew!  It  seemed  as  though  one 
would  never  be  able  to  grind  the  mouthful  fine 
enough  to  be  swallowed,  and  for  half  an  hour 
afterward  my  jaws  ached  as  they  did  when  I 
had  the  mumps. 

On  the  way  to  Africa  we  stopped  twice  at  the 
Azores  and  several  places  along  the  Suez  Canal. 


204     AFRICAN  ADVENTURE  STORIES 

We  naturalists,  with  an  eye  to  swelling  our  col- 
lection, made  at  once  for  the  open  country  and 
occupied  our  time  collecting  specimens.  These 
were  deposited  in  a  large-mouthed  pickle  bottle, 
filled  with  alcohol,  that  the  steward  of  the  Ham- 
burg had  generously  donated  to  our  cause.  By 
the  time  we  had  reached  Kapiti  Plains  the  bot- 
tle was  packed  with  lizards,  snakes,  frogs,  toads, 
snails,  grasshoppers,  beetles,  worms,  and  other 
curious  creatures  that  would  have  made  the 
inventor  of  the  "Fifty -Seven  Varieties"  blush 
with  shame.  On  entering  my  tent  I  placed  the 
bottle  in  one  comer  and  thought  no  more  about 
it.  Imagine  our  surprise,  on  seating  ourselves 
at  the  supper  table  that  evening,  to  discover  the 
specimen  bottle  occupying  a  conspicuous  posi- 
tion with  other  delicacies  in  the  centre  of  the 
table.  My  tent  boy.  Tommy,  had  discovered  it 
and,  assuming  it  to  be  another  strange  concoc- 
tion of  the  white  man,  had  promptly  given  it  the 
place  of  honour  to  which  he  thought  it  entitled. 
The  imcanny  suggestion  undoubtedly  would 
have  spoiled  the  appetite  of  most  people,  but 
with  us  it  only  proved  the  source  of  a  hearty 
laugh,  in  which  even  the  colonel  joined,  much 
to  the  embarrassment  of  the  well-meaning  boy. 


WILD  ANIMALS  I  HAVE  "ET"  205 

who  for  several  days  was  the  object  of  ridicule 
by  his  associates. 

At  Rhino  Camp,  on  the  White  Nile,  some  one 
— I  don't  remember  who — suggested  that  we  try 
scrambled  crocodiles'  eggs.  While  I  cannot  speak 
for  the  rest  of  the  party,  I  ate  the  eggs  from  pure 
curiosity.  Were  they  good.'^  Well,  being  pressed 
for  an  answer,  I  will  say  that  they  tasted  about 
as  I  should  expect  the  best  quality  of  sawdust 
to  taste  if  prepared  properly. 

The  body  of  a  monitor  lizard  (described  in  a 
previous  chapter)  was  also  added  to  our  already 
mixed  bill  of  fare.  The  meat  was  white  and 
tasted  Uke  alligator  meat  that  I  have  eaten  in 
Georgia,  reminding  us  of  fried  fish. 

As  I  have  never  been  without  food  for  more 
than  forty-eight  hours,  I  cannot  claim  to  have 
been  hungry;  nevertheless,  for  six  long  weeks 
I  have  lived  on  nothing  but  dried  mountain - 
sheep  meat  and  tea.  It  kept  me  in  good  work- 
ing condition  but  never  satisfied  my  hunger. 
No  matter  how  much  or  how  often  I  ate,  there 
was  that  continual  gnawing  in  my  stomach  that 
only  fresh  meat  and  good  camp  provender  can 
appease. 

I  have  spent  several  seasons  in  the  Athabasca 


206     AFRICAN  ADVENTURE  STORIES 

Lake  region  of  northwestern  Canada,  and  on 
one  occasion  went  sheep  hunting  with  a  band 
of  Cree  Indian  half-breeds.  By  their  stupidity 
the  sheep  saw  us  before  we  were  within  range 
and  made  their  escape.  We  took  up  the  trail, 
and  after  following  it  over  two  high  mountains 
I  gave  up  the  chase  and  started  back  to  camp 
with  an  Indian  boy. 

While  descending  the  mountain  we  shot  a 
half -grown  marmot,  or  woodchuck,  which,  young 
though  it  was,  equalled  in  size  our  Eastern  species. 
As  soon  as  we  reached  the  timber,  we  halted, 
built  a  fire,  and  roasted  our  prize,  hide,  fur, 
and  all.  In  half  an  hour  there  wasn't  enough 
left  of  that  marmot  to  feed  a  sparrow.  Let 
me  say  that  the  only  way  to  cook  a  wood- 
chuck  properly  is  to  roast  him  whole  on  a  stick 
over  a  camp-fire,  turning  him  from  time  to  time 
until  he  is  well  done.  The  skin  keeps  the  fat 
from  broihng  out,  and  enough  sinks  into  the 
flesh  to  make  it  tender  and  juicy. 

The  Cree  Indians  are  a  hospitable  race,  even 
to  the  point  of  robbing  themselves  of  their  last 
mouthful  of  food;  but  it  always  seemed  to  me 
that  they  expect  far  more  in  return  than  they 
give.     An  Indian  has  no  set  meal- time;  he  eats 


WILD  ANIMALS  I  HAVE  "ET"  207 

when  he  is  hungry,  regardless  of  the  time  of 
day  or  night,  and  no  matter  how  lately  he  has 
eaten.  When  food  is  plentiful  he  eats  all  the 
time,  and  when  his  larder  is  exhausted  he  fasts 
until  hunger  compels  him  to  hunt.  So  long  as 
you  will  feed  him,  so  long  will  he  watch  for  the 
smoke  of  your  camp-fire  and  drop  in  at  meal- 
time. If  you  eat  without  inviting  him  to  join 
you  he  will  take  the  hint  in  a  short  time,  and 
within  half  a  day  you  will  see  him  returning 
from  a  hunt  with  his  horse  or  his  squaw  loaded 
idown  with  venison  or  sheep  meat. 

I  rode  into  a  Cree  camp  one  afternoon  and,  in 
accordance  with  the  custom  of  the  country,  was 
asked  to  dismount  and  "eat."  As  I  stepped 
into  the  tepee  and  took  a  seat  on  a  sheepskin 
spread  on  the  ground,  an  old  squaw  was  bending 
over  a  large  pot  hanging  over  the  fire.  Finally, 
she  placed  a  plate,  knife,  and  fork  before  me 
and  began  fishing  about  in  the  pot  with  a  fork. 
Piece  after  piece  of  meat  she  brought  to  the  sur- 
face and  dropped  again  until  she  finally  found 
the  right  one,  a  hideous-looking  beaver's  head. 
This  she  placed  upon  my  plate  and,  pouring  out 
a  cup  of  tea,  bade  me  eat.  Waiting  for  the 
others  to  be  served,  and  wondering  what  they 


208     AFRICAN  ADVENTURE  STORIES 

would  draw,  I  gazed  at  the  bulging  eyes  and 
grinning  teeth  which  seemed  to  carry  a  sort  of 
*'go-to-it"  expression.  Next  to  the  tail  I  had 
been  given  the  choicest  morsel,  so  the  other 
members  of  the  party  contented  themselves 
with  various  pieces  of  the  animal's  anatomy.  I 
fell  to  with  a  will.  The  "other  Indians"  seized 
a  piece  of  meat  between  their  teeth  and,  while 
they  held  it  in  one  hand,  sawed  off  a  mouthful 
with  the  other.  Since  then  I  have  repeatedly 
watched  Indians  eating  in  this  manner,  and,  al- 
though I  have  expected  to  see  one  shave  off  the 
tip  of  his  nose  at  any  moment,  up  to  date  I  am 
unable  to  record  such  a  disaster. 

Having  disposed  of  the  muscular  pieces  of 
flesh  on  the  skull  and  sides  of  the  jaws,  I  pushed 
my  plate  away,  thinking  that  the  ordeal  was 
over.  But  no;  I  was  reproached  for  being  so 
wasteful  and  was  told  that  I  had  overlooked  the 
choicest  parts,  the  eyes  and  brain.  Did  I  eat 
them?     I  did  not. 

A  few  weeks  later  this  same  band  of  Indians 
tried  to  feed  me  on  boiled  wildcat,  or  Canadian 
lynx,  and  I  must  say  that,  had  I  not  seen  the 
milky-coloured  water  in  which  it  had  been 
cooked,  I  might  have  tasted  it  at  least. 


WILD  ANIMALS  I  HAVE   "ET"   209 

During  the  early  days,  as  a  mark  of  great 
respect,  the  Indians  always  brought  the  tails 
of  the  beavers  they  trapped  to  the  Hudson  Bay 
factor.  A  smoked  beaver  tail  was  given  to  our 
party  and  was  boiled.  It  was  rich  and  sweet 
and,  while  really  enjoyable,  was  so  blubbery — 
more  Hke  marrow  fat,  in  fact — that  a  few  mouth- 
fuls  were  sickening. 

Moose  nose  is  another  Indian  tidbit  that  I 
have  tasted  in  Alaska.  It  is  crisp  and  insipid 
and  lacks  a  taste  that  tempts  the  palate. 

Once,  while  a  boy,  camping  on  the  bank  of  the 
Susquehanna,  near  my  home,  Owego,  New  York, 
I  shot  a  pigeon  and  a  crow,  and,  being  anxious 
to  know  how  the  latter  tasted,  cleaned  and 
picked  them  both  before  arriving  in  camp. 
After  boihng  them  for  three  hours,  I  served 
them  up,  being  careful  that  my  camp  compan- 
ion did  not  get  the  pigeon.  He  sawed  away  on 
it  for  a  few  seconds  and  then  tasted  it.  The 
uncomplimentary  remarks  that  he  made  have 
always  led  me  to  suspect  that  he  did  not  think 
the  bird  he  was  eating  was  the  same  species  as 
mine,  and,  not  wishing  to  deceive  him,  I  ad- 
mitted the  truth  but  made  the  mistake  of  giv- 
ing him  the  Latin  name,  Corvus  americanus.     I 


210     AFRICAN  ADVENTURE  STORIES 

knew  he  had  not  studied  Latin,  but,  neverthe- 
less, the  name  and  the  taste  were  near  enough  for 
him  to  guess  the  common  term.  He  promptly 
stalked  to  the  brink  of  the  river  and,  tossing  the 
body  far  out,  spent  the  afternoon  sullen  and 
silent.  But  the  agiUty  with  which  he  came  to, 
hustled  off  his  clothes  and  dived  into  the  water 
to  recover  that  crow's  body  when  we  sighted 
two  visitors  coming  up  the  river  proved  be- 
yond doubt  that  he  considered  the  joke  good 
enough  to  be  played  on  some  one  else. 

Our  friends  soon  arrived  and,  following  the 
demands  of  all  boys'  stomachs,  asked  for  some- 
thing to  eat.  Corvus  americanus  was  once  more 
brought  forth  and  divided  equally  among 
them.  Again  I  am  unable  to  publish  the  com- 
ments that  were  made  when  our  guests  discov- 
ered the  trick. 

Ten  years  later,  while  stopping  at  a  large  es- 
tate in  Belgium,  I  was  repaid  for  this  deed  in 
my  own  coin,  but  instead  of  eating  in  ignorance, 
the  dish  was  prepared  for  my  special  benefit 
and  at  no  little  trouble.  The  European  rook 
corresponds  to  our  crow  and  in  that  section  of 
the  country  is  considered  a  great  delicacy.  I 
was  told  that  thousands  of  them  were  killed 


WILD  ANIMALS  I  HAVE  "ET"  211 

annually,  the  meat  being  minced,  mixed  with 
veal,  and  made  into  a  sort  of  veal  loaf.  Had 
I  not  known  what  I  was  eating  at  the  time,  I 
surely  should  have  pronounced  it  veal  loaf.  I 
will  add,  however,  that  I  am  personally  not 
partial  to  veal  loaf  of  this  description. 


CHAPTER  XVI 

A   RACE   WITH   A    "rHINO" 

BRITISH  EAST  AFRICA  has  reason  to 
feel  proud  of  the  finely  equipped  narrow- 
gauge  railroad  that  connects  Mombasa 
with  Lake  Victoria,  a  distance  of  five  hundred 
and  eighty-four  miles.  It  is  a  toy  railroad,  to 
be  sure — so  small,  in  fact,  that  three  days  had 
passed  before  the  Roosevelt  African  expedition's 
outfit  was  transported  from  Kilindina  to  Kapiti. 
But  what  can  one  expect  of  a  railroad  that  was 
only  built  to  open  up  a  savage  country  to  civi- 
lisation and  which  is  operated  at  a  yearly  loss 
of  thousands  of  dollars  to  the  government  that 
maintains  it? 

The  tiny  cars  are  drawn  by  wood-burning 
Baldwin — American — locomotives  that  haul  two 
trains  up  and  down  the  road  every  week.  On 
account  of  the  destructive  "white  ants"  that 
devour  everything  made  of  wood,  sheet-iron 
sleepers  are  used,  and  the  road-bed — ballasted 

212 


A  RACE  WITH  A  "RHINO"      213 

with  broken  stone — is  kept  in  repair  by  na- 
tive labour  under  Indian  overseers,  usually 
Goanese. 

The  "division  superintendents,"  as  they  are 
called  in  America,  are  known  in  Africa  as  "per- 
manent-ways inspectors."  They  are  usually 
Englishmen  or  Scotchmen.  It  is  the  duty  of 
these  men  to  ride  over  the  fifty  miles  or  more 
of  railroad  assigned  to  them  and  see  that  it  is 
kept  in  good  repair. 

On  his  trips  the  inspector  uses  a  hand-car, 
not  the  clumsy  kind  propelled  with  pump- 
handles,  that  is  common  here,  but  a  light  car 
equipped  with  a  long  seat  that  runs  from  side 
to  side  through  its  centre.  On  this  seat  the 
inspector  sits  while  two  barefoot  negroes  run 
on  the  rails  behind  and  push.  A  third  man 
rides  as  passenger  until  it  is  time  for  him  to 
relieve  one  of  the  other  two. 

On  two  occasions  the  inspector  at  Naivasha 
let  me  accompany  him  on  his  trips.  We  would 
be  rolling  along  through  a  cut,  and  suddenly 
glide  out  on  the  veldt  into  the  very  midst  of 
a  herd  of  zebras,  hartebeests,  or  Thomson's 
gazelles.  The  surprised  creatures  would  bound 
away  in  all  directions    or  race  along  parallel 


214     AFRICAN  ADVENTURE  STORIES 

with  us  for  half  a  mile  or  more.  Or  perhaps, 
when  we  were  coasting  down  a  grade,  we  would 
round  a  sharp  curve  and  surprise  a  hyena  or  a 
pair  of  jackals  hunting  mice  in  the  tall  grass. 

Once,  after  passing  through  a  bit  of  bush,  we 
ran  right  up  to  a  secretary-bird  that  was  stalk- 
ing along  beside  the  track.  He  raised  his 
wings,  flapped  them  vigorously,  and  ran  along 
the  ground,  preparatory  to  taking  flight,  but 
we  were  under  such  headway  that  we  overtook 
him  and,  as  he  launched  into  the  air,  I  brought 
him  down  with  a  charge  of  number  four  shot. 
Now  his  skin  is  in  one  of  the  big  cases  in  the 
Smithsonian  Institution. 

A  few  months  later,  when  I  was  travelling  in 
a  "down  train,"  I  related  this  experience  to  an 
inspector  who  was  a  fellow  passenger. 

"I  can  understand  why  a  novice  might 
think  such  a  trip  interesting,"  he  said.  "But 
we  get  rather  accustomed  to  adventures.  I'll 
tell  you  one  of  mine. 

"There  had  been  a  heavy  rain,  and  the  road 
south  of  Naivasha  had  suffered  badly.  I  put 
several  extra  gangs  at  work  to  repair  the  dam- 
age and  then  went  north  to  oversee  the  construc- 
tion of  a  bridge  that  had  been  swept  away.     A 


A  RACE  WITH  A  "RHINO"      215 

week  had  passed  before  I  finally  found  time  to 
take  a  run  south  to  inspect  the  grade  repairing 
that  had  been  going  on  in  the  meantime.  It 
was  about  nineteen  miles  to  the  end  of  the 
washed-out  stretch,  so  we  started  early.  The 
boys,  chanting  a  song  as  they  skipped  over  the 
rails,  sent  us  along  at  a  lively  clip. 

"  We  had  gone  about  eight  miles  and  were 
travelling  through  a  bit  of  open  bush-veldt 
when  we  saw  two  rhinos  standing  near  the 
track  ahead  of  us.  In  a  low  voice  I  ordered  the 
boys  to  stop  and  at  the  same  moment  applied 
the  brake.  The  car  halted  about  fifty  yards 
from  the  brutes. 

"A  rhino  is  a  stupid,  unreliable  creature  and 
his  eyesight  is  so  poor  that  when  the  wind  is 
in  the  right  direction  a  person  can  walk  within 
fifty  yards  of  him  without  fear  of  being  seen. 

"The  rumbling  of  the  wheels  had  attracted 
the  attention  of  these  animals,  and  they  stood 
gazing  at  us.  One  of  them  walked  slowly  to- 
ward us ;  then  it  paused  and  sniffed  the  air.  They 
were  so  near  the  track  that  it  would  have  been 
impossible  for  us  to  pass  without  provoking 
an  attack.  We  rolled  the  car  back  a  few  rods 
and  waited  for  them  to  go  on,  but  they  did  not 


216     AFRICAN  ADVENTURE  STORIES 

seem  inclined  to  move.  Finally,  one  lay  down 
within  twenty  feet  of  the  track. 

*'In  the  hope  that  if  we  retired  from  their 
sight  the  rhinos  would  saunter  off,  I  ordered 
the  boys  to  run  the  car  into  the  bush.  There 
we  left  it,  and  I  walked  back  to  the  skirting  and 
watched  the  brutes  from  ambush. 

"I  must  have  remained  there  twenty-five 
minutes,  but  the  rhinos  did  not  change  their 
position.  The  delay  was  exasperating.  Why 
had  I  not  brought  my  rifle?  We  should  then 
have  had  something  with  which  to  protect  our- 
selves, and  I  might  have  fired  a  few  shots  and 
put  them  to  flight. 

"At  last  I  had  the  boys  bring  up  the  car 
again,  and  once  more  we  moved  forward,  al- 
though I  had  no  clear  plan  in  mind. 

"When  we  were  within  a  hundred  yards  of 
the  animals  we  halted  and  awaited  develop- 
ments. The  rhino  that  had  been  lying  down 
rose,  and  stood  looking  in  our  direction;  its 
mate  also  showed  signs  of  interest. 

"We  began  to  push  the  car  ahead.  Nearer 
and  nearer  we  came.  The  stupid  creatures 
simply  stared  at  us  until  we  were  within  fifty 
yards   of   them.     Then    one    puffed,    snorted. 


A  RACE  WITH  A  "RHINO"      217 

and  began  a  series  of  comical,  awkward  bucks; 
after  that  it  ran  about  twenty-five  yards  and 
stopped.  The  other  stood  still  and  continued 
to  stare  at  us. 

"I  ordered  one  of  the  boys  to  walk  ahead 
and  try  to  drive  it  away  from  the  track.  Re- 
luctantly he  obeyed,  much  to  the  amusement 
of  his  comrades.  As  the  boy  waved  his  arms 
and  shouted  the  rhino  wheeled  about  and 
rushed  off  after  its  companion.  I  jumped  on 
the  car,  shouted  to  the  boys  to  push,  and  we 
started  rapidly  down  the  track. 

"Ahead  there  was  a  sharp  bend.  For  most 
of  the  way  roimd  the  track  ran  through  a  cut 
eight  feet  deep;  at  the  farther  end  of  the  cut 
it  dropped  down  a  steep  grade.  The  rhinos 
were  cutting  across  this  bend,  and,  although  the 
chance  of  meeting  them  again  at  the  farther  side 
occurred  to  me,  the  possibility  seemed  remote. 

"We  were  nearly  out  of  the  cut  when  a 
great  dark  body  suddenly  came  plunging  over 
the  bank  on  our  left.  We  all  shouted,  and  the 
rhino  tried  to  turn,  but  its  momentum  was 
too  great;  the  animal  lost  its  balance  and  came 
rolling  down  the  bank  ahead  of  us. 

"The  boy  who  was  riding  with  me  jumped. 


218    AFRICAN  ADVENTURE  STORIES 

and  so  did  I.  When  we  struck  the  ground  and 
turned  to  run  the  two  men  who  had  been 
pushing  the  car  were  fully  twenty  feet  ahead 
of  us,  for  they  had  taken  to  their  heels  the  in- 
stant the  rhino  appeared. 

"As  the  huge  body  of  the  brute  rolled  down 
the  bank  and  onto  the  track,  the  car  struck  it  a 
glancing  blow  on  the  side,  then  left  the  rails, 
and  ploughed  into  the  bank.  The  rhino  jumped 
to  its  feet  and,  with  a  toss  of  its  head,  attacked 
the  car.  Then,  seeing  us  running  up  the  track, 
it  came  charging  after  us. 

"The  two  boys  ahead  of  me  ran  up  the  left 
side  to  the  top  of  the  bank  and  I  quickly  fol- 
lowed. The  rhino  kept  on  after  the  third  boy, 
who  was  dashing  along  the  right-hand  side  of 
the  track.  We  shouted  to  him  to  climb  the 
bank,  and  he  bounded  up  with  the  agility  of  a 
cat.  Below,  in  the  cut,  the  animal  rushed  by 
us,  and  it  was  only  ten  feet  behind  the  boy  when 
he  reached  the  top  of  the  bank.  The  bank  was 
low  at  that  point,  and  the  clumsy  animal,  after 
slipping  and  sliding  back  into  the  cut  several 
times,  succeeded  in  scrambling  up. 

"Meanwhile,  the  boy  had  run  some  distance 
along  the  top  of  the  bank  and  thrown  himself 


A  RACE  WITH  A  "RHINO"      219 

flat  on  the  ground.  When  the  rhino  reached 
the  top  it  ambled  out  on  the  veldt  a  few  yards, 
^  and,  since  it  could  not  find  its  enemy,  it  stopped 
and  looked  about. 

"While  the  animal's  back  was  turned  the 
two  boys  and  I  jumped  down  into  the  cut  and 
made  for  the  upturned  car.  Hurriedly  we  lifted 
it  on  the  track.  I  told  the  boys  to  push  it  to 
the  top  of  the  down  grade  and  to  wait  there 
for  me.  Then  I  climbed  back  to  the  bank 
and  looked  about  to  see  what  had  become  of 
my  third  assistant.  On  the  veldt  only  thirty 
yards  from  him,  the  rhino  stood,  snorting  and 
puffing,  and  turning  first  to  one  side  and  then 
to  the  other.  I  watched  my  opportunity  and 
then  waved  to  the  boy  several  times;  but  he 
was  so  occupied  in  watching  the  rhino  that  at 
first  he  did  not  see  me.  Finally,  however,  he 
jumped  up,  dashed  for  the  bank,  and  leaped 
into  the  cut. 

"He  was  hardly  on  his  feet  when  the  brute 
caught  sight  of  him  and  again  charged.  The 
boy  bounded  down  the  track  toward  us.  The 
rhino  reached  the  top  of  the  bank  a  hundred 
feet  behind  him;  it  plunged  down  and  contin- 
ued the  chase  between  the  rails. 


220    AFRICAN  ADVENTURE  STORIES 

"While  the  two  boys  and  myself  had  ample 
time  to  escape,  I  saw  at  once  that  the  brute 
would  overtake  the  other  man  long  before  he 
could  reach  the  car,  and,  as  we  could  not  desert 
him,  we  were  forced  to  again  take  to  the  top 
of  the  bank  and  the  pursued  boy  once  more 
followed  our  example.  The  persistent  rhino 
lost  considerable  time  scrambling  up  after  him, 
and  again  the  two  came  tearing  on  toward  us, 
the  boy  now  fifty  yards  in  advance  of  his 
pursuer. 

"Now  was  our  chance,  for  the  boy  would  reach 
the  car  at  least  fifty  yards  ahead  of  the  rhino. 
We  darted  back  into  the  cut  and  slowly  started 
the  car  down  the  grade. 

"The  boy  kept  to  the  bank  till  he  was  abreast 
of  us;  then  he  jumped  down  and  joined  the 
other  two  boys  in  pushing  the  car.  The  rhino, 
charging  along  the  top  of  the  bank,  gained  on 
us  rapidly.  The  bank  now  sloped  toward  the 
track,  and  every  step  that  our  pursuer  took 
brought  it  nearer  our  level. 

"I  urged  the  boys  to  exert  every  bit  of  their 
strength,  and  a  few  seconds  later  they  jumped 
aboard,  for  the  car  had  attained  such  speed  that 
there  was  danger  of  their  being  left  behind. 


A  RACE  WITH  A  "RHINO"      221 

"There  was  nothing  we  could  do  now  except 
to  watch  the  brute  thundering  along  between 
the  rails.  Although  the  weight  of  all  four  men 
caused  the  car  to  gain  headway,  the  rhino  was 
drawing  nearer  every  second.  Faster  and  faster 
we  sped  along,  but  still  the  animal  gained  until 
it  was  only  a  few  rods  away. 

"A  short  distance  ahead  was  another  sharp 
curve,  and  round  this  we  flew  at  breakneck 
speed.  We  were  going  so  fast  that  I  feared 
the  car  might  leave  the  rails  at  any  moment. 
It  was  a  choice  of  two  evils,  and  we  chose  to 
stay  with  the  car  as  long  as  it  remained  on  the 
track.  As  we  rounded  the  curve  I  was  hor- 
rified to  see  a  gang  of  graders  at  work.  They 
saw  us  approaching.  One  of  them  cried  out 
in  alarm,  and  the  whole  crowd  flung  their  tools 
aside  and  bolted  into  a  near-by  "donga." 

"When  I  again  looked  back  I  saw  that  the 
rhino  had  not  gained  on  us  in  the  last  hundred 
yards.  As  the  steepest  part  of  the  grade  was 
before  us,  I  knew  that  we  had  won  the  race. 
Still  the  stupid  brute  kept  doggedly  on.  In 
half  a  minute  more  we  had  reached  the  steep 
grade  and  began  to  leave  our  pursuer  behind; 
but  it  was  not  until  we  were  a  quarter  of  a 


222     AFRICAN  ADVENTURE  STORIES 

mile  in  the  lead  that  we  saw  the  rhino  slacken 
his  speed  and  finally  stop. 

"Then  I  gently  applied  the  brake,  and  we 
continued  slowly  until  we  had  reached  the  next 
gang  of  workmen. 

"My  one  regret  is  that  there  was  no  motion- 
picture  man  present  to  record  our  game  of 
hide-and-seek!" 


CHAPTER  XVII 

IMPRISONED    BY   A   COBRA 

^S  soon  as  Colonel  Roosevelt  announced 
A^  his  intention  to  head  a  scientific  expe- 
dition into  the  wilds  of  Africa,  a  number 
of  journalists  and  nature  photographers  seized 
upon  the  opportunity  to  precede  him  and  mar- 
ket their  work  while  the  interest  in  the  Dark 
Continent  was  a  live  one. 

Among  this  class  of  adventurers  were  several 
nature  photographers  from  England  and  Amer- 
ica. To  be  at  the  head  of  this  profession  requires 
untold  patience,  almost  supernatural  coolness, 
and  the  highest  type  of  bravery.  To-day  the 
photographer  is  creeping  stealthily  upon  a  doz- 
ing rhinoceros,  an  African  lion,  or  a  buffalo,  any 
one  of  which  big-game  hunters  consider  a  dan- 
gerous adversary,  even  when  pitted  against  mod- 
em firearms. 

In  order  to  get  unique  photographs,  some- 
thing that  will  be  in  demand  by  publishers,  the 
nature  photographer  must  provoke  an  attack 

i2S 


224     AFRICAN  ADVENTURE  STORIES 

from  his  subject.  As  the  beast  dashes  at  him 
he  must  take  the  charge  with  sullen  indifference 
and  press  the  button  at  the  critical  moment, 
leaving  it  to  his  armed  companion  to  carry  him 
through  in  safety. 

The  next  day  you  may  find  this  same  man 
cooped  in  a  little  blind,  with  his  camera  trained 
upon  the  carcass  of  a  freshly  killed  bait,  to  which 
he  hopes  some  passing  bird  of  prey  or  carnivo- 
rous mammal  will  be  lured. 

It  was  while  thus  engaged  that  one  of  these 
nature  photographers  had  a  thrilHng  experience 
with  a  cobra,  the  most  deadly  of  all  poison- 
ous snakes.  At  the  time  he  was  camped  with 
twenty  porters  at  the  south  end  of  the  Ulucania 
Hills,  a  series  of  rocky  ridges  in  which  Uve  lions, 
leopards,  hyenas,  klipspringers,  hyraxes,  eagles, 
vultures,  and  cobras  and  other  species  of  snakes. 

Looking  over  the  grassy  veldt  bordering  these 
hills,  one  sees  herds  of  zebras,  hartebeests,  wilde- 
beests, bustards,  secretary-birds,  and  ostriches. 
On  being  fired  at,  the  sound  of  the  hunter's 
rifle  has  scarcely  died  away  when  the  vultures, 
eagles,  kites,  and  marabou  storks  begin  to  con- 
gregate to  feed  upon  the  carcass  of  the  victim. 

Seizing  upon  this  suggestion  as  a  good  oppor- 


IMPRISONED  BY  A  COBRA       225 

tunity  to  secure  rare  photographs  of  the  great 
birds,  one  of  the  nature  photographers  killed  a 
hartebeest  and  had^his  porters  carry  it  to  the 
foot  of  a  rocky  ridge. 

"I  found  a  place  where  an  oval-shaped  slab 
of  rock  rested  on  and  overhung  a  great  boulder," 
he  said.  "By  draping  the  green  canvas  ground- 
cloth  of  my  tent  over  this  rock  and  securing  the 
lower  corners  to  the  ground,  I  made  a  sort  of 
blind  behind  which  I  could  hide.  A  few  leafy 
branches  placed  against  the  canvas  gave  the 
structure  a  more  natural  appearance. 

"Everything  in  readiness,  I  had  my  men  put 
the  body  of  the  hartebeest  within  fifty  feet  of 
the  blind,  and  then  I  sent  them  back  to  camp. 
Crawling  into  the  blind,  I  focussed  my  camera 
upon  the  body  through  a  sht  cut  in  the  canvas. 
Although  the  vultures,  storks,  and  eagles  were 
already  beginning  to  gather  in  the  air,  I  knew 
that  probably  it  would  be  some  time  before  they 
would  congregate  in  sufficient  numbers  to  suit 
my  purpose. 

"I  fear  that  I  was  somewhat  greedy  in  my 
ambition.  I  did  not  care  for  a  photograph  of 
two  or  three  birds;  what  I  wanted  was  a  group 
of  fifty  or  more  tearing  away  at  the  carcass 


226    AFRICAN  ADVENTURE  STORIES 

and  fighting  with  one  another  for  the  choice 
bits. 

"I  arranged  my  field-glasses,  water-bottle, 
and  camera  case  in  a  crevice  behind  me  and 
leaned  my  rifle  against  the  rocks  by  my  side. 

"For  some  time  I  amused  myself  by  watching 
the  comical  and  awkward  actions  of  the  birds. 
Eagles,  vultures,  and  storks  came  from  every 
direction  and  circled  about  a  few  minutes,  then 
gracefully  hghted  on  the  ground  near  the  car- 
cass, where  they  stood  eyeing  the  blind  sus- 
piciously. 

"Whenever  a  new  arrival  appeared  an  ag- 
gressive bird  would  raise  its  wings  over  its  back, 
lower  its  head,  and  take  several  awkward  hops 
toward  him.  Occasionally  fights  took  place, 
but  they  were  never  serious  and  usually  ended 
by  one  of  the  birds  taking  wing  and  joining 
another  and  more  friendly  group. 

"Becoming  sleepy  and  knowing  that  as  soon 
as  the  birds  had  gathered  in  sufficient  numbers 
to  suit  my  purpose  their  squabbles  would 
awaken  me,  I  made  a  pillow  of  my  rain-coat 
and  curled  up  in  my  cramped  quarters  for  a 
few  minutes'  snooze. 

"How  long  I  slept  is  of  Httle  consequence.     It 


IMPRISONED  BY  A  COBRA      227 

might  have  been  an  hour;  it  might  have  been  but 
fifteen  minutes.  At  any  rate,  I  was  awakened 
by  a  pecuhar  grating  sound,  as  of  something 
being  dragged  over  the  loose,  fine  gravel;  in 
fact,  I  became  aware  of  the  presence  of  some 
creature  before  I  was  fully  awake.  When  I  did 
come  ,to  my  full  senses  I  was  horrified  at  dis- 
covering an  immense  cobra  stretched  full  length 
at  my  feet. 

*'I  realised  that  the  slightest  move  on  my 
part  meant  death;  in  fact,  the  mere  opening  of 
my  eyes  had  attracted  the  snake's  attention,  for 
instantly  it  stopped  and  its  sinister,  beady  eyes 
stared  at  me  from  their  lidless  sockets. 

"I  have  faced  many  dangers  in  the  course  of 
my  short  time  on  earth,  but  heretofore  it  has 
been  in  the  open  where  I  had  the  freedom  of 
my  Hmbs  and  the  power  to  use  them.  But 
here  I  lay  a  captive  at  the  mercy  of  the  fangs 
of  the  most  gruesome  of  all  creatures.  For  all 
practical  purposes  I  might  just  as  well  have 
been  charmed,  for  there  was  my  rifle  within  easy 
reach  yet  I  dared  not  make  a  move  to  secure  it. 

"To  prevent  my  limbs  from  shaking  and  be- 
traying me,  I  set  my  muscles,  locked  my  jaws, 
and  simply  stared.     So  long  as  the  cobra  re- 


228    AFRICAN  ADVENTURE  STORIES 

mained  in  the  confines  of  my  small  enlcosure  it 
was  always  within  striking  distance  of  me,  and 
I  realised  that  my  safety  lay  in  either  being 
able  to  kill  it  or  in  waiting  for  it  to  depart. 

*'The  minutes  seemed  like  hours — they  al- 
ways do  under  such  circumstances.  Finally,  the 
snake  turned  to  one  side  and  began  slowly  to 
crawl  toward  the  opposite  end  of  the  blind, 
where  the  ground-cloth  failed  to  reach  the 
earth  and  there  was  space  for  it  to  get  out.  It 
was  within  a  foot  of  the  opening  when  its  head 
struck  the  cloth,  and,  drawing  back  suddenly, 
it  paused  for  a  few  seconds,  then,  to  my  horror, 
turned  and  slowly  glided  back  toward  me.  Be- 
fore it  had  covered  half  the  distance,  however, 
it  came  in  contact  with  the  camera  tripod  and 
began  to  sUde  up  one  of  the  legs. 

"At  this  juncture  I  decided  to  try  to  reach  my 
rifle.  While  the  reptile  was  fumbhng  about  the 
camera  I  carefully  reached  out,  but  fate  was 
against  me,  for  I  had  hardly  moved  when  my 
coat  sleeve  grated  on  the  gravel.  Shght  though 
the  noise  was,  the  cobra  heard  it,  turned  its 
head  toward  me,  and  its  hood  began  to  inflate. 
There  it  stood,  quite  a  third  of  its  body  in 
mid-air,  swaying  its  head  from  side  to  side,  its 


IMPRISONED  BY  A  COBRA      229 

long,  forked  tongue  darting  in  and  out  of  its 
mouth. 

"My  blood  seemed  to  freeze;  a  cold  sweat 
covered  my  forehead  and  I  was  nearly  petrified 
from  fear.  Every  instant  I  expected  to  see  the 
reptile's  head  dart  forward  and  to  feel  its 
deadly  fangs  enter  my  flesh.  Had  I  moved 
again,  this  would  have  happened.  Finally, 
the  hood  gradually  contracted  and  the  snake 
dropped  to  the  ground  and  continued  its  tour 
of  investigation. 

"It  moved  around  behind  and  out  of  my 
sight,  but  I  could  trace  its  position  by  the 
grating  of  its  body  on  the  gravel.  Soon  I  heard 
it  scuffling  about  at  my  feet  and  the  next  instant 
felt  its  head  hit  them  and  its  body  begin  to  slide 
over.  That  snake  seemed  to  be  a  hundred  feet 
long,  but,  finally,  it  once  more  came  into  view, 
its  head  held  close  to  the  ground. 

"I  had  kept  still  for  so  long  that  my  nerves 
were  almost  shattered,  and  I  was  willing  to 
resort  to  desperate  means  in  order  to  rid  myself 
of  my  captor. 

"While  I  had  been  sleeping  my  helmet  had 
fallen  from  my  head  and  had  rolled  to  the 
ground  in  front  of  me.     Toward  this  the  cobra 


230    AFRICAN  ADVENTURE  STORIES 

was  making,  and  as  soon  as  its  head  had  dis- 
appeared behind  it  my  hand  shot  out  and  I 
seized  the  snake  by  the  neck.  Springing  to 
my  feet,  I  did  not  wait  to  go  out  by  the  regular 
exit,  but  burst  through  the  front  of  the  bhnd, 
tearing  the  canvas  fastenings  from  the  ground. 

"Finding  itself  a  captive,  the  snake  instantly 
twined  about  my  waist,  and  I  felt  its  hood  try- 
ing to  expand  in  my  grip.  With  jaws  wide 
open,  it  twisted  its  head  about  and  worked  its 
triple  set  of  fangs  backward  and  forward  in  a 
vain  effort  to  bury  them  in  my  hand,  while  the 
venom  oozed  from  their  points  in  drops. 

"Fortunately,  the  cobra  is  not  a  constrictor 
like  the  pythons  and  many  other  species  of 
snakes,  so  its  grasp  upon  my  body,  while  un- 
comfortably tight,  was  not  dangerous. 

"It  was  evident  that  to  dislodge  the  snake 
was  going  to  be  no  easy  matter.  Fearing  to 
lose  my  grip  for  even  a  second,  I  kept  a  steady 
strain  on  its  body  and  wondered  what  next  to 
do.  Suddenly  the  cobra  began  to  relax  its  hold 
and  I  felt  the  coils  slipping.  Encouraged  by 
this,  I  pulled  harder  and  again  the  coils  gave 
way,  until  I  was  holding  the  snake  at  arm's 
length  with  only  a  single  coil  about  my  body. 


IT  WORKED  ITS  TRIPLE  SET  OF  FANGS  BACKWARD  AND  FORWARD  IN  A 
VAIN  EFFORT  TO  BURY  THEM  IN  MY  HAND 


IMPRISONED  BY  A  COBRA      231 

"Holding  the  snake  in  one  hand,  I  seized  it 
about  the  middle  with  the  other,  but  the  in- 
stant the  reptile  felt  itself  grasped  in  another 
place  it  struggled  so  hard  that  I  was  obliged 
to  again  grip  it  with  both  hands  about  the  neck. 

"My  strength  was  waning  fast,  but  the  sat- 
isfaction of  knowing  that  the  cobra,  too,  was 
becoming  exhausted  gave  me  courage.  The 
constant  strain  that  I  kept  on  it  had  weakened 
it,  so  the  next  time  I  caught  it  in  the  middle  it 
made  one  feeble  effort  to  contract,  then  the  coil 
gave  way  and  slipped  off  my  body  entirely. 

"Swinging  the  snake  free  from  my  body,  I 
waved  it  about  my  head  and  with  all  my 
strength  brought  it  down  on  a  rock.  Again  and 
again  I  whacked  it  over  the  boulder  and  finally 
threw  it  as  far  as  I  could. 

"Then  rushing  back  to  the  blind,  I  returned 
with  my  rifle,  but  I  was  so  unnerved  that  the 
bullets  went  wild  and  I  was  obliged  to  resort 
to  stones  in  order  to  kill  the  cobra,  although 
it  was  almost  dead  from  the  hammering  I  had 
given  it." 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

TREED   BY   AN   ELEPHANT 

CRITTENDEN  left  London  because  he 
had  to.  His  creditors  pushed  him  so 
vigorously  that  they  made  him  uncom- 
fortable, and,  as  his  bank  account  was  exhausted 
because  of  his  extravagant  mode  of  living,  he 
sneaked  up  into  Yorkshire  and  took  a  position 
as  bookkeeper. 

"I  simply  made  up  my  mind,"  he  said,  "that 
home  was  no  place  for  me  until  my  debts  were 
paid,  and,  as  my  creditors  still  kept  nagging  me, 
I  remained  in  my  new  position  just  long  enough 
to  lay  by  a  few  pounds  and  then  booked  on  a 
steamer  for  British  East  Africa  and  drifted  up 
here  into  the  Congo  to  hunt  ivory.'* 

"How  long  have  you  been  here?"  I  inquired. 

"Not  quite  a  year,  and  I'm  going  to  stick  it 
out  until  my  pile  has  been  made  and  I  can  go 
back  and  pay  up." 

"But  isn't  there  some  risk  of  your  creditors 

£32 


TREED  BY  AN  ELEPHANT       233 

being  cheated  of  their  pay  by  the  elephants?  "  I 
ventured.  "Don't  you  consider  it  a  little  risky, 
this  prowling  about  after  five-ton  monsters  with 
tusks  that  have  gored  scores  of  hunters,  feet 
that  have  stamped  out  many  a  man's  life,  and  a 
trunk  that  acts  like  the  tentacles  of  an  octopus? 
Isn't  there  a  slight  element  of  danger  in  ram- 
ming about  through  the  jungle,  the  bamboo, 
and  the  tall  elephant-grass,  chasing  such  crea- 
tures as  these?" 

"Certainly  there  is,  but  it's  part  of  the  game. 
Every  elephant  hunter  understands  that,  and 
it  is  up  to  him  to  play  a  trump  card  every  time 
or  else  be  euchred.  But  still  there's  no  more 
danger  here  in  the  wilds  of  Africa  than  there 
would  be  in  any  large  city. 

"Take,  for  instance,  the  automobiles;  they 
are  continually  blowing  their  horns  and  tooting 
their  whistles,  danger  or  no  danger,  and  you  get 
so  accustomed  to  them  you  become  careless. 
But  when  you  hear  an  elephant  trumpeting  you 
sit  up  and  take  notice.  You  can  shoot  an  ele- 
phant if  he  comes  too  close,  but  you  can't  shoot 
a  'bally'  chauffeur,  can  you? — so  there  you 
are!" 

"Did  you  ever  have  to  shoot  an  elephant 


234    AFRICAN  ADVENTURE  STORIES 

chauffeur  to  keep  from  being  run  down?'*  I 
inquired. 

''Did  I!  Being  charged  by  elephants  is  such 
a  common  occurrence  to  an  ivory  hunter  that 
he  remembers  only  the  dangerous  charges.  The 
most  thrilling  escape  that  ever  happened  to  me 
occurred  in  the  very  country  to  which  you  are 
now  going. 

"We  had  so  far  made  a  good  kill  of  ivory. 
One  noon  three  of  my  trackers  who  had  been 
looking  for  fresh  signs  returned  and  told  me 
that,  some  five  miles  north,  they  had  discovered 
a  watering-place  on  the  Nile  where  elephants 
came  to  drink. 

"  I  took  my  gun  bearer  Kongoni — Swahali 
for  hartebeest — three  trackers,  my  blankets,  and 
two  days'  grub  and  left  at  once. 

"Late  in  the  afternoon  we  arrived  at  the 
spot.  The  earth  along  the  bank  near  the  water- 
ing-place was  trodden  hard  by  huge  feet,  and, 
after  looking  over  the  scene,  I  saw  at  once  that 
the  elephants  must  have  watered  there  the 
night  before. 

"There  was  little  use  in  trying  to  trail  them 
up  that  day,  for  they  might  be  twenty  miles 
away,  so  we  back-tracked  a  mile  and  went  into 


TREED  BY  AN  ELEPHANT       235 

camp  for  the  night,  intending  to  take  up  the 
fresh  tracks  in  the  morning  should  the  animals 
return  that  night. 

"It  must  have  been  some  time  past  midnight 
when  my  gun  bearer  awakened  me  to  say  that 
he  heard  the  elephants  coming.  I,  too,  could 
catch  the  faint  sound  of  trumpeting,  and  as 
time  passed  the  trumpeting  became  louder  and 
more  frequent,  and  finally  we  could  hear  the 
animals  bellowing.  For  over  two  hours  the 
noise  continued  and  then  gradually  grew  fainter 
and  fainter  as  the  herd  moved  back  into  the 
bush-veldt. 

"We  were  up  before  the  sun  and  after  a 
hearty  breakfast,  for  we  knew  not  when  we 
would  get  another  square  meal,  hurried  off  to 
the  watering-place. 

"A  faint  glow  in  the  east  showed  that  the  day 
was  dawning,  and  when  it  became  light  enough 
to  see  clearly,  we  picked  up  the  trail.  It  was 
evidently  an  enormous  herd,  but  the  ground 
was  pounded  so  hard  by  its  previous  visits  that 
for  the  time  we  could  gain  no  correct  idea  of  its 
true  size.  Kongoni  said  that  there  were  a  hun- 
dred; one  of  my  trackers  doubled  the  number, 
and  I  felt  sure  that  he  was  nearer  right. 


236    AFRICAN  ADVENTURE  STORIES 

"We  followed  the  wide  trail  at  a  rapid  rate 
and  hoped  to  overhaul  them  soon,  for  as  they 
had  been  feeding  all  night,  they  might  halt 
about  ten  o'clock  to  rest. 

"Through  patches  of  tall  elephant-grass, 
groves  of  thorn-trees,  and  then  out  into  a  some- 
what barren  open  country  the  tracks  led  us. 
On  all  sides  were  uprooted  trees  and  great 
branches  that  the  animals  had  wrenched  off 
as  they  passed  along. 

"We  had  gone  about  five  miles  when  we  sud- 
denly passed  out  of  the  elephant-grass,  crossed 
a  dry,  sandy  creek  bed,  and  came  to  a  level  piece 
of  ground  about  a  mile  wide.  A  fire  had  lately 
swept  the  grass  from  this  flat  and  at  the  far  side 
we  could  see  a  dense  bush-veldt. 

"The  elephants  were  probably  resting  in  that 
bush-veldt,  and,  as  there  was  no  longer  need  for 
professional  trackers,  the  men  were  told  to  wait 
at  the  edge  of  the  clearing  until  they  saw  Kon- 
goni  and  me  enter  the  bush  on  the  other  side, 
then  to  follow  slowly  so  as  to  be  near  and  ready 
to  assist  in  cutting  out  the  ivory  should  we  suc- 
ceed in  shooting  a  tusker. 

"We  had  crossed  the  flat  and  were  two  hun- 
dred  yards   from   the   timber   when    Kongoni 


TREED  BY  AN  ELEPHANT       237 

stopped;  he  said  he  could  hear  the  elephants 
feeding.  A  few  seconds  later  the  sound  of 
breaking  branches  and  then  the  crash  of  a  fall- 
ing tree  dispelled  all  doubt. 

"We  were  discussing  a  course  of  procedure 
when  Kongoni  caught  me  by  the  arm  and,  point- 
ing toward  the  thicket,  exclaimed: 

'''Bwana,  there's  an  elephant  standing  un- 
der that  thorn-tree!' 

"Straining  my  eyes  to  the  limit,  it  was  im- 
possible to  discover  the  brute,  but  suddenly  an- 
other elephant  appeared,  and  then  another  and 
another,  until  in  all  some  ten  or  fifteen  animals 
were  in  sight. 

"* Hurry,  Bwandy*  said  the  gun  bearer,  *they 
are  coming  this  way  and  we  will  be  caught  in 
the  open.' 

"Scattered  here  and  there  were  small  clusters 
of  bushes  that  had  escaped  the  fire.  Fifty 
yards  to  our  left  stood  a  solitary  tree.  A  hurri- 
cane had  taken  out  the  top,  leaving  several  large 
limbs  protruding  from  the  upper  part.  Sixty 
feet  from  this  tree  was  an  ant-hill  six  feet  high; 
a  small  patch  of  bushes  grew  just  beyond,  while 
still  farther  on  the  Nile  flowed  placidly  beneath 
a  perpendicular  twenty -foot  bank. 


238    AFRICAN  ADVENTURE  STORIES 

"Moving  slowly  so  as  not  to  attract  atten- 
tion, we  reached  the  tree  and  I  placed  my  rifle 
on  the  ground,  intending  that  Kongoni  should 
hand  it  to  me  as  soon  as  he  had  assisted  me  into 
the  limbs.  He  gave  me  the  expected  boost, 
but  when  I  turned  and  reached  down  for  the 
gun  he  was  gone. 

"* Kongoni!  Kongoni!'  I  called  in  a  low 
tone.  There  was  no  response.  Then  Kongoni 
was  seen  waving  to  me  from  a  clump  of  bushes 
a  few  rods  off.  The  idiot!  what  had  possessed 
him  to  suddenly  desert  me  in  this  manner? 
There  was  no  danger  so  long  as  we  were  hidden, 
even  if  the  herd  was  large  and  only  two  hundred 
yards  away,  for  an  elephant's  eyesight  is  so 
poor  that  he  cannot  see  a  man  much  more  than 
fifty  yards  off. 

"I  should  have  descended  the  tree  at  once, 
thrown  the  rifle  strap  over  my  shoulder,  and 
climbed  back  again,  but  I  wasted  so  much  time 
trying  to  persuade  Kongoni  to  return  and  hand 
it  to  me,  that  when  I  did  think  of  it  the  ele- 
phants were  dangerously  close  and  I  did  not 
dare  make  the  attempt. 

"It  was  a  grand  and  wonderful  sight;  that 
army  of  two  hundred  modern  mammoths — left- 


TREED  BY  AN  ELEPHANT       239 

overs  from  antediluvian  days — marching  ma- 
jestically toward  us  in  one  solid,  unbroken  mass, 
their  great  ears  waving  back  and  forth  as  they 
calmly  fanned  themselves.  They  were  continu- 
ally tearing  up  bunches  of  grass  and  tossing 
them  upon  or  over  their  backs;  the  totos — young 
ones — strolled  along  by  the  side  of  their  mothers, 
who  frequently  reached  out  their  trunks  and 
appeared  to  fondle  their  offspring. 

"How  I  yearned  for  my  rifle,  for  there  were 
many  big  tuskers  in  the  herd.  Several  of  them 
were  within  range  and  from  my  elevated  posi- 
tion there  was  a  fine  opportunity  to  bowl  one 
over. 

"Some  of  the  animals  walked  right  under  my 
tree  and  I  held  my  breath  lest  they  should  look 
up  and  discover  me.  Probably  a  third  of  the 
herd  had  passed  when  several  of  them  lifted 
their  trunks  and  waved  them  in  the  air;  they 
had  caught  our  scent. 

"One  began  to  trumpet,  and  the  others 
quickly  took  up  the  alarm.  Suddenly  every 
elephant  in  the  herd  seemed  to  have  lost  its 
head,  for  they  raced  backward  and  forward 
quite  panic-stricken.  In  one  wild  dash  the 
advance-guard   suddenly   wheeled   around   and 


240    AFRICAN  ADVENTURE  STORIES 

started  back  toward  the  timber,  the  Httle  totos 
dodging  about  to  prevent  being  trampled. 

"Kongoni  dared  not  lift  his  head  for  fear  of 
provoking  an  attack,  so  he  crouched  low,  a 
silent  Ustener.  Had  he  been  able  to  see,  there 
would  have  been  no  trouble,  for  he  would  have 
noticed  that  the  stampeding  elephants  had 
passed  him,  leaving  a  little  toto  in  the  rear,  its 
mother  a  few  rods  in  advance.  But  two  of 
the  brutes  had  torn  by  uncomfortably  close  to 
him,  which,  together  with  the  roaring  and 
trumpeting,  struck  terror  to  his  heart,  so  in- 
stead of  holding  his  position,  he  broke  cover 
and  bounded  for  my  tree. 

"As  he  burst  through  the  brush  he  nearly 
collided  with  the  totOy  which  gave  a  peculiar 
little  squeal  and  dodged  out  of  the  man's  way. 
The  mother  had  heard  her  child's  cry  and, 
wheeling  about,  came  to  its  rescue. 

"Kongoni  saw  that  he  was  trapped  so  he  ran 
for  the  ant-hill,  dodged  behind  it,  and  stood 
waiting.  He  did  not  have  long  to  wait,  how- 
ever, for  Mrs.  Elephant  soon  reached  the  spot 
and  for  a  few  seconds,  in  double-quick  time,  the 
two  raced  around  the  clay  pyramid. 

"Thinking  that  she  would  surely  catch  the 


TREED  BY  AN  ELEPHANT       241 

boy,  I  was  about  to  descend,  grab  my  rifle,  and 
help  him  out  of  the  scrape,  when  the  elephant, 
on  the  far  side  of  the  ant-hill,  began  tearing  it 
down  with  her  tusks.  I  realised  that  now  was 
Kongoni's  opportunity  to  escape.  From  the  op- 
posite side  of  the  ant-hill  he  could  not  see  what 
was  taking  place,  so  I  called  out,  *now  is  your 
chance,  run  for  the  tree!' 

"With  the  ant-hill  between  him  and  the  in- 
furiated animal,  he  bounded  toward  me  and,  as 
he  reached  the  stub  and  began  climbing  up,  I 
leaned  down  and  gave  him  a  helping  hand,  and 
the  next  instant  he  was  safe  in  the  branches. 

"The  elephant  demoUshed  that  ant-hill  as 
completely  as  a  stick  of  dynamite  could  have 
wrecked  it,  and  then  stood  over  the  ruins,  sur- 
prised, no  doubt,  at  not  finding  her  victim. 
The  moving  branches  and  the  scratching  of  our 
bodies  on  the  limbs  must  have  betrayed  our  po- 
sition, for  she  caught  sight  of  us  and  bore  down 
on  the  tree. 

"Before  climbing  the  tree,  which  was  fully 
eight  inches  in  diameter,  it  seemed  impossible 
that  any  elephant  could  push  it  over,  but  as  I 
looked  down  and  saw  her  put  her  great  head 
against  it,  it  was  evident  that  she  intended  to 
make  the  attempt. 


242    AFRICAN  ADVENTURE  STORIES 

"There  was  a  ripping,  grinding  sound  and 
the  sod  about  the  base  began  to  heave;  stub- 
bornly the  tenacious  roots  fought  against  sur- 
rendering the  burden  that  they  had  supported 
for  so  many  years.  The  five  tons  of  flesh  and 
bones  were  more  than  a  match  for  them,  how- 
ever, and  slowly  the  tree  began  to  descend.  In- 
stead of  toppling  over  with  a  crash,  the  sinewy 
tentacles  eased  its  fall  so  gently  that  we  were 
given  an  opportunity  to  adjust  our  positions  and 
prepare  for  the  worst. 

"Even  after  the  tree  had  attained  an  angle  of 
forty-five  degrees,  we  stood  on  the  trunk  and 
clung  to  the  now  almost  perpendicular  branches. 
The  elephant  must  have  thought  that  it  was 
going  over;  she  backed  away  for  a  second  but, 
seeing  her  mistake,  again  began  to  push,  and 
this  time  the  tree  slowly  went  down. 

"As  it  struck  the  ground,  the  sudden  loosen- 
ing of  the  roots  on  one  side  caused  it  to  roll 
slightly  which  threw  the  gun  bearer  to  the  un- 
derside and  buried  him  beneath  the  branches. 
At  the  same  time  I  was  brought  to  an  upright 
position  and,  jumping  to  the  ground,  started  for 
the  small  patch  of  bushes  in  which  Kongoni 
had  first  sought  shelter. 

"If  I  could  only  gain  possession  of  the  rifle 


TREED  BY  AN  ELEPHANT       243 

that  Kongoni  in  his  excitement  had  left  some- 
where in  the  brush,  it  might  be  possible  to  bring 
our  troubles  to  an  abrupt  termination.  The 
black  rascal  was  to  blame  for  our  predicament 
and  it  would  serve  him  right  if  the  elephant 
gave  him  a  chastising. 

"Where  was  he  now?  Was  he  pinned  help- 
lessly beneath  the  limbs,  or  was  he  simply  lying 
there  in  the  hope  that  he  would  escape  punish- 
ment and  the  infuriated  beast  would  make  me 
the  target  for  her  revenge? 

"If  he  reasoned  thus,  he  reasoned  wisely,  for 
on  looking  back  over  my  shoulder  I  saw  the  ele- 
phant charging  after  me,  her  trunk  curled  up 
between  her  tusks  and  her  great  ears  extended 
on  both  sides  of  her  villainous-looking  head. 

"There  had  been  no  chance  for  me  to  recover 
the  rifle  that  had  been  left  at  the  foot  of  the 
tree,  neither  was  there  time  to  search  for  the 
gun  in  the  bushes;  in  fact,  should  I  succeed  in 
reaching  the  shelter  before  she  could  overtake 
me,  under  the  circumstances  it  was  all  that 
could  be  hoped  for. 

"Luck  favoured  me,  and  darting  in  with  head 
bent  low  and  arms  thrust  out  in  the  position 
of  a  diver,  I  bolted  through  the  tangle.     The 


244    AFRICAN  ADVENTURE  STORIES 

crashing  of  brush  resounded  in  my  ears  as  I 
turned  sharply  to  the  right,  threw  myself  flat 
on  the  ground,  and  lay  there,  panting  and 
trembling. 

"On  she  came  and  must  have  passed  within 
ten  feet  of  my  hiding-place,  but  I  dared  not 
look  up,  for  to  show  my  pale  face  or  move 
might  have  attracted  her  attention. 

"She  rushed  through  the  thicket  and  trum- 
peted loudly  at  the  other  side,  while  my  heart 
hammered  away  as  though  it  would  break 
through  my  ribs.  From  what  I  knew  of  the 
habits  of  elephants,  there  was  little  possibility 
of  her  leaving  the  locality  until  she  had  either 
killed  me  or  had  demoUshed  that  clump  of  bushes 
in  her  efforts  to  find  me. 

"One  thing  was  sure,  the  bushes  were  only 
fit  for  temporary  shelter,  and  it  was  a  matter 
of  only  a  few  minutes  before  I  should  be  com- 
pelled to  leave  them.  A  soUtary  tree  growing 
on  the  brink  of  the  Nile  seemed  to  be  my  only 
hope,  but  one  experience  with  a  tree  as  an 
'elephant  escape'  had  not  proven  particularly 
satisfactory,  still  there  was  no  choice. 

"These  thoughts  were  suddenly  dispelled 
by  another  commotion  in  the  brush;  the  *old 


TREED  BY  AN  ELEPHANT       245 

woman'  was  coming  back  to  make  a  more 
thorough  investigation.  This  time  she  charged 
by  to  my  right,  and  as  soon  as  she  had  passed 
I  sprang  to  my  feet  and  once  more  rushed  on, 
relying  on  the  noise  she  was  creating  to  drown 
whatever  racket  I  might  make. 

"As  I  broke  through  the  cover  and  for  an 
instant  glanced  back,  she  was  standing  at  the 
far  side  of  the  brush  patch  looking  in  my  di- 
rection, but  before  two  more  steps  could  be 
taken  she  was  at  me  again. 

"My  eyes  were  riveted  on  that  tree,  and  with 
every  jump  I  longed  for  postponement  of  the 
silence  that  would  tell  me  she  had  passed  out 
of  the  thicket  and  into  the  open.  I  could  then 
judge  how  much  lead  I  had  and  what  were  my 
chances  for  escape. 

"Suddenly  the  crackling  of  limbs  and  the 
swish  of  bushes  ceased  and  the  shuffling  and  dull 
thud  of  feet  on  the  gravelly  earth  was  heard.  A 
hasty  calculation  placed  me  a  little  more  than 
half-way  between  the  animal  and  the  river, 
still  I  did  not  look  back.  I  could  not  look!  I 
did  not  want  to  see  her,  and  yet  in  my  mind's 
eye  I  depicted  her  charging  along  behind  as 
plainly  as  though  she  had  been  in  front,  instead 
of  in  my  rear. 


246    AFRICAN  ADVENTURE  STORIES 

"On  I  rushed  at  top  speed.  The  shuffling 
grew  louder  and  louder  every  second,  for  she  was 
fast  overtaking  me.  But  that  tree  grew  nearer 
and  nearer  with  each  step.  Just  then  Kongoni 
shouted : 

"*Pacey  !  pacey  !  Bwana  1 '  (*  Hurry!  hurry! 
Master!')  and  I  knew  that  she  must  be  crowd- 
ing me  closely.  Even  should  I  reach  the  tree 
ahead  of  her,  evidently  there  would  not  be  time 
to  climb  it  before  she  twined  her  snake-Hke  trunk 
about  my  body  and  hurled  me  to  the  ground. 

"What  was  beneath  that  bank?  Was  it  a 
drop  off  of  twenty  feet  to  a  mass  of  jagged 
rocks  or  into  the  water.'^  The  elephant  would 
surely  kill  me  if  I  did  not  make  the  jump,  so 
what  was  the  difference?  If  the  river  was  deep 
and  ran  in  flush  with  the  bank,  as  from  the  top 
of  our  perch  in  the  tree  it  appeared  to  do,  and 
I  could  only  outdistance  my  pursuer,  there  was 
nothing  to  fear,  for  I  was  an  expert  swimmer. 

"It  certainly  was  a  rehef  to  see  the  water-line 
creeping  gradually  toward  shore  over  the  horizon 
of  the  bank,  and  as  I  rushed  along  I  wondered 
if  the  animal  had  gained  such  headway  that  she 
would  come  tumbUng  down  on  top  of  me. 

"A    few    more    strides    and    the    bank    was 


TREED  BY  AN  ELEPHANT       247 

reached,  and  without  a  second's  hesitation  I 
sprang  into  the  air  and  shot  through  the  twenty- 
feet  of  space  into  the  swiftly  running  water. 
The  force  of  the  fall  drove  me  out  of  sight. 
Turning  quickly,  I  swam  under  water  and  down- 
stream until  lack  of  breath  compelled  me  to 
come  to  the  surface. 

"The  elephant  was  standing  on  the  bank 
above,  trumpeting  loudly  and  blowing  great 
clouds  of  dust  and  ashes  into  the  air.  Now  a 
new  peril  presented  itself — crocodiles.  The  Nile 
swarmed  with  them,  but  on  second  thought  I 
remembered  that  they  frequented  sluggish  water 
and,  as  the  current  here  ran  fully  six  miles  an 
hour,  there  was,  after  all,  not  much  danger 
from  them. 

"Striking  out  for  shore,  I  was  soon  so  close 
under  the  bank  that  the  elephant  was  lost  to 
view.  By  continuing  alongshore  for  a  hundred 
yards,  the  exposed  roots  of  a  tree  were  found, 
and  to  these  I  clung  until  my  breath  had  re- 
turned. Swimming  on  down-stream  to  a  point 
where  the  bank  was  low,  I  climbed  out  into  a 
fringe  of  bushes  and  small  trees. 

"Working  my  way  quietly  through  the  foliage, 
I  went  back  part  way  and  then  climbed  a  tree 


248    AFRICAN  ADVENTURE  STORIES 

overlooking  the  country.  The  old  elephant  was 
prowling  along  the  top  of  the  bluff,  but  just  then 
she  turned  and,  shuffling  over  to  the  prostrate 
tree,  began  breaking  off  the  branches  with  her 
trunk.  I  watched  anxiously  to  see  if  she  would 
find  the  gun  bearer,  although  I  felt  quite  certain 
that  if  he  had  not  been  injured  he  must  have 
taken  advantage  of  his  opportunity  to  make  his 
escape  to  a  more  secure  hiding-place. 

"After  she  had  nearly  stripped  the  tree  of  its 
branches  and  scattered  them  over  the  ground, 
she  put  her  head  against  the  trunk  and  pushed 
it  aside.  But  Kongoni  was  not  there.  The 
Httle  toto,  in  the  meantime,  was  running  about 
shaking  his  head  and  squealing. 

"Unable  to  find  her  enemies,  the  great  brute, 
after  again  looking  the  ground  over  carefully, 
sauntered  off  into  the  bush,  her  little  one  follow- 
ing by  her  side. 

"Suddenly  Kongoni*s  head  appeared  above  a 
clump  of  bushes.  He  hustled  up  to  the  scene 
of  the  conflict,  secured  both  of  my  rifles,  and 
came  running  toward  the  spot  where  I  had  dis- 
appeared over  the  bank.  Before  he  arrived, 
however,  I  diverted  his  course  by  shouting,  and 
as  I  descended  the  tree  he  came  up. 


TREED  BY  AN  ELEPHANT       249 

"By  losing  his  head  he  had  almost  caused  us 
to  lose  our  lives,  and  he  knew  too  well  that  he 
was  to  blame.  His  face  bore  an  expression  of 
fear  and  shame  combined,  and  we  stood  gazing 
at  each  other  without  saying  a  word.  Finally, 
he  fell  to  his  knees  and,  kissing  my  hand,  sobbed: 
*  Master,  forgive  me.  I  will  never  do  it  again. 
I  have  always  been  faithful  to  you  until  to-day, 
so  if  you  will  forgive  me  I  swear  by  Allah  that 
I  will  never,  never  again  desert  you.' 

"Undoubtedly  the  elephant  had  taught  him  a 
lesson,  and  I  felt  so  thankful  that  we  both  had 
escaped  that  I  took  him  at  his  word,  so  after 
severely  reprimanding  him  and  fining  him  twen- 
ty rupees  from  his  salary,  I  returned  to  camp, 
picking  up  the  other  boys  en  roiUe." 


CHAPTER  XIX 

SNOW-BLIND   ON   MOUNT   KENIA 

WHILE  it  is  true  that  I  knew  nothing 
of  forestry,  the  government  was  also 
aware  of  the  fact,  so  I  felt  that  I  had 
not  accepted,  under  false  pretences,  the  position 
of  forester,"  said  a  former  occupant  of  the  West 
Kenia  Forest  Station. 

"My  superior  at  Nairobi  had  told  me  that 
my  chief  duty  would  be  to  watch  for  forest  fires 
and  to  extinguish  any  that  occurred.  He  also 
instructed  me  to  hire  a  gang  of  Kikuyu  natives 
and  cut  a  trail  up  the  south  side  of  Mount 
Kenia  to  timber-line.  I  was  working  on  this 
trail  when  my  friend  Brown,  whom  I  had 
asked  to  come  up  and  visit  me,  arrived,  and  we 
planned  to  go  high  up  on  the  mountain  and 
do  some  exploring  after  the  trail  was  finished 
and  the  men  had  been  discharged. 

"We  two  *  trekked'  to  an  altitude  of  thirteen 
thousand  seven  hundred  feet  and  pitched  our 
tent.     On  the  morning  of  the  third  day  at  our 

250 


SNOW-BLIND  ON  MOUNT  KENIA     251 

alpine  camp  I  arose  rather  late  and  found  that 
Brown  had  left  camp.  The  teapot  near  the 
smouldering  fire  showed  that  he  had  had  break- 
fast. *  Probably  stepped  out  to  shoot  some 
game  for  our  larder,'  I  thought,  as  I  brushed 
the  coals  together  and  started  to  prepare  my 
morning  meal. 

"Having  finished  my  breakfast,  I  picked  up 
my  Ithaca  shotgun,  camera,  and  barometer, 
that  hung  from  one  of  the  tent-poles,  and  strolled 
up  on  a  high  ridge  back  of  the  camp.  From 
here  a  fine  view  could  be  had.  Small  green 
lakes  fed  by  tiny  rivulets  that  trickled  over 
the  rocks,  great  drifts  of  snow,  and  constantly 
changing  scenery  kept  my  eyes  busy. 

"One  thinks  of  Africa  as  a  land  of  jungle  and 
extreme  heat,  and,  as  I  stood  there  gazing  at 
scenery  such  as  I  had  seen  in  Alaska  and  in 
northwestern  Canada,  I  could  scarcely  believe 
that  I  was  standing  on  the  equator;  neverthe- 
less, *the  line'  does  run  over  the  top  of  the 
mountain. 

"The  hand  of  the  barometer  pointed  to  fifteen 
thousand  feet,  and  from  that  point  refused  to 
record  a  higher  altitude,  although  it  was  sup- 
posed to  register  as  high  as  twenty  thousand  feet. 


252    AFRICAN  ADVENTURE  STORIES 

From  this  point  a  great  snow-bank  rose  gradu- 
ally for  several  hundred  yards  and  then  formed 
a  high,  steep  bank  dangerous  to  cUmb  for  fear  of 
starting  a  snowsUde.  For  half  a  mile  the  drift 
extended  eastward  and  away  from  the  moun- 
tain peak.  I  saw  that  by  crossing  it  to  the  far 
end  and  then  turning  back  I  could  reach  the 
north  side  of  the  peak  on  to'p  of  the  steep,  dan- 
gerous bank. 

"The  glare  from  the  sun  on  the  drift  was  very 
intense,  but  it  seemed  no  more  dazzling  than  I 
had  found  it  under  similar  circumstances  in 
America.  For  most  of  the  way  the  snow  was 
soft  and  I  sank  to  my  shoe  tops,  but  after  I  had 
turned  back  toward  the 'mountain  I  found  a 
tract  about  a  hundred  yards  wide  where,  for  some 
unaccountable  reason,  the  snow  was  packed  hard. 
Even  when  I  jumped  on  it  my  feet  left  no  im- 
pression. 

"I  proceeded  until  I  had  passed  two  thirds 
of  the  way  around  the  mountain  peak.  The  mass 
of  cliffs  and  jagged  rocks  rose  to  a  total  height 
of  seventeen  thousand  two  hundred  feet  above 
sea-level;  now  they  were  not  more  than  seven 
hundred  feet  above  me,  therefore  I  must  have 
ascended  to  an  altitude  of  sixteen  thousand  five 


SNOW-BLIND  ON  MOUNT  KENIA     253 

hundred  feet.  To  the  right,  half  a  mile  away, 
was  a  round-topped  mountain  of  snow  of  un- 
known depth.  In  many  places  it  had  cracked 
open,  leaving  great  crevasses,  which  showed  that 
the  snow  was  at  least  fifty  feet  deep. 

"From  where  I  stood,  on  the  snow  ridge  that 
connected  the  snow  mountain  with  the  peak, 
the  drift  sloped  downward  toward  the  north 
end  of  the  mountain  half  a  mile;  beyond  this  I 
could  not  see.  If  I  could  get  down  it  would  be 
a  shorter  way  to  camp  than  to  retrace  my  steps, 
so  I  decided  to  make  the  attempt. 

"I  had  gone  about  half-way  when  I  discov- 
ered that  the  snow-field  terminated  in  an  abrupt 
wall  several  hundred  feet  high.  On  reaching 
it  I  dared  not  go  close  enough  to  the  edge  to 
make  a  more  thorough  investigation  for  fear 
the  snow  cornice  might  break  and  precipitate 
me  to  the  bottom. 

"Where  the  snow  met  the  bluff  of  the  peak 
there  seemed  to  be  a  break  through  which  one 
might  descend  to  the  valley,  so  I  walked  over 
to  it  and  followed  along  the  base  of  the  cliff  for 
some  distance.  The  drift  became  steeper  and 
steeper  as  I  proceeded.  I  was  within  about 
seventy-five  feet  of  the  wall  when  suddenly  my 


254    AFRICAN  ADVENTURE  STORIES 

feet  flew  out  from  under  me  and  I  found  my- 
self sliding  downward. 

"None  of  the  snow  above  was  moving,  but  a 
great  mass  below  had  given  way  and  was  hurry- 
ing down  the  mountainside  at  a  terrific  rate. 
Unless  I  could  check  myself  I  should  be  carried 
over  the  brink  of  the  wall  and  into  the  valley 
below,  I  knew  not  how  many  hundred  feet. 

"Frantically,  I  tried  to  dig  my  heels  into  the 
snow  but  could  not  stop.  I  had  fallen  just 
beyond  reach  of  the  rocks  but  managed  to  roll 
over  a  couple  of  times,  and,  seeing  a  projection  a 
short  distance  below,  I  seized  it  as  I  was  passing 
and  held  on  until  the  snow  had  slipped  out  from 
under  me. 

"Being  at  the  extreme  upper  edge  of  the 
slide,  only  a  few  inches  of  the  surface  had  given 
way,  so,  after  the  excitement  was  over  and  I 
had  scrambled  to  my  feet,  I  found  myself  stand- 
ing on  the  drift  while  the  slide  poured  over  the 
edge  of  the  wall  with  a  sound  like  escaping 
steam. 

"Regaining  my  somewhat  startled  wits,  I  be- 
gan to  wonder  how  to  get  out  of  my  predica- 
ment. To  attempt  to  pass  around  the  mountain 
as  originally  planned  now  seemed  impossible, 


SNOW-BLIND  ON  MOUNT  KENIA     ^55 

and  should  I  try  to  retrace  my  steps  I  might 
start  another  sHde  and  this  time  lose  my  life. 

*'It  was  about  four  o'clock.  In  another  hour 
a  crust  would  begin  to  form  and  by  ten  o'clock, 
or  half  past  at  the  latest,  it  would  be  hard 
enough  to  bear  my  weight;  and  then,  of  course, 
there  would  be  no  danger  of  snowslides.  So,  a 
prisoner  of  the  snow,  I  decided  to  remain  there 
until  the  elements  should  let  me  escape. 

"Holding  tightly  to  the  rocks,  I  began,  gently 
at  first,  to  tramp  the  snow  and  in  a  few  min- 
utes had  made  a  hard,  comfortable  footing. 
Contrary  to  general  belief,  the  African  twilight 
is  quite  as  long  as  any  twilight.  Slowly  the 
shadows  of  the  peaks,  over  which  the  sun  was 
sinking,  lengthened  and  at  last  darkness  fell. 

"One  by  one  the  stars  came  out  between  the 
fleecy  clouds.  As  the  air  grew  chilly  the  clouds 
descended  and  by  eight  o'clock  enveloped  me 
in  a  mist  that  shrouded  the  *  arctic'  scenery  for 
half  an  hour.  Finally,  the  mist  disappeared  and 
I  saw  the  clouds  floating  far  below  and  a  clear 
sky  above. 

"Now,  for  the  first  time,  I  began  to  have 
trouble  with  my  eyes.  They  ached,  then  they 
burned,  and  in  half  an  hour  it  seemed  as  though 


256    AFRICAN  ADVENTURE  STORIES 

a  bundle  of  quill  toothpicks  was  being  thrust 
into  them.  I  rubbed  them  with  snow  and  closed 
my  Uds,  but  when  I  opened  them  again  the 
agony  was  excruciating.  A  thick  smoke  seemed 
to  obscure  the  view;  then,  for  the  first  time,  I 
realised  that  I  was  becoming  snow-blind. 

"How  foolish  I  had  been  not  to  blacken  my 
face  with  a  piece  of  burnt  wood  before  leaving 
camp,  but  when  I  started  I  had  no  intention  of 
climbing  high,  and,  as  I  have  said,  after  the 
snow  was  reached  the  glare  from  the  drifts 
seemed  no  more  intense  than  I  had  found  it 
many  times  before. 

"What  if  I  should  become  totally  blind! 
Here  I  was,  marooned  four  miles  from  camp 
and  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  mountain. 
Brown  would  never  think  of  looking  for  me  here. 

"One  thing  was  sure:  I  must  get  away  and 
try  to  work  out  on  the  big  drift  to  the  east  of  the 
peak  before  I  completely  lost  my  sight.  This 
drift  was  visible  from  a  long  distance  to  any  one 
approaching  from  the  south,  so  if  Brown  should 
come  he  could  easily  see  me  on  the  snow  a  mile 
away. 

"Of  course  there  was  some  danger  of  stum- 
bling into  one  of  the   many  crevasses  I  had 


SNOW-BLIND  ON  MOUNT  KENIA     257 

passed  on  the  way  up,  but  I  knew  this  could  not 
happen  unless  my  sight  became  so  poor  that 
I  could  not  follow  my  tracks  back. 

"From  time  to  time  I  kept  testing  the  crust, 
now  forming  rapidly,  and  about  ten  o'clock  con- 
sidered it  firm  enough  to  support  my  weight. 

"While  my  tracks,  made  in  the  afternoon, 
were  somewhat  obliterated  by  the  melting  of  the 
snow,  they  were  still  visible.  By  moving  slowly 
and  straining  my  eyes  it  was,  at  first,  not  diffi- 
cult to  follow  them.  Every  few  steps  the  crust 
gave  way,  but  it  was  hard  enough  to  prevent  a 
slide.  So,  keeping  close  to  the  base  of  the  cliff, 
I  finally  reached  the  spot  where  I  had  crossed 
the  drift  and  first  struck  the  rocks. 

"Every  minute  it  was  becoming  more  and 
more  difficult  to  follow  the  trail;  my  eyesight 
was  failing  fast.  Gradually,  I  was  obliged  to 
lean  over  farther  and  farther,  until  at  last  I 
dropped  to  my  knees  and  crawled  along.  Even 
then  it  was  hard  to  see  the  tracks,  and  finally 
I  gave  up  and  began  feeling  my  way  along. 

"My  hands  became  numb  from  cold  and  my 
knees  ached,  so  I  was  forced  to  stop  frequently 
to  warm  up  and  rest.  The  bank  was  almost 
level  now,  and  shortly  I  began  to  descend  and 


258    AFRICAN  ADVENTURE  STORIES 

knew  that  the  ridge  had  been  passed.  I  was 
crawling  out  on  the  great  drift  to  the  east  of 
the  mountain  and  nearing  the  packed-snow  area 
where  no  tracks  had  been  left.  There  was  little 
chance  of  crossing  it  with  the  expectation  of 
finding  the  trail  on  the  other  side. 

*'It  was  slow,  tedious  work,  groping  along  in 
the  darkness  and  feeling  out  each  frozen  foot- 
print. My  hands  were  sore  from  shuffling  over 
the  rough  snow,  so  I  put  my  camera  in  a  pocket 
of  my  hunting-coat  and,  sHpping  my  left  hand 
into  the  leather  case,  used  it  as  a  shield  while 
shding  along.  Every  few  minutes  the  shotgun 
that  swung  from  my  shoulders  worked  forward 
and  I  had  to  stop  to  adjust  it. 

"So  hour  after  hour  I  crept  along  fifteen  or 
twenty  feet  at  a  time,  then  stopped  to  rest. 
The  tracks  were  becoming  more  and  more  shal- 
low; evidently  the  hard  snow  was  not  far  off. 
Two  more  spells  of  crawHng,  two  more  rest 
halts,  and  then,  search  as  hard  as  I  could,  not 
another  footprint  was  found;  they  were  not 
there  to  find. 

"This  tract  must  be  crossed  regardless  of 
consequences.  I  stood  erect  and,  stepping  out 
boldly,  tried  to  walk  in  as  straight  a  course  as 


SNOW-BLIND  ON  MOUNT  KENIA     259 

possible.  Only  a  short  distance  had  been  trav- 
ersed when  the  drift  seemed  to  descend  more 
rapidly  than  I  had  anticipated.  A  few  more 
steps  and  it  was  so  steep  that  there  was  danger 
of  slipping.  Was  it  possible  that  I  had  so  soon 
wandered  from  my  course  .^^  It  must  be  so,  for 
certainly  I  had  not  passed  over  such  a  grade 
that  afternoon. 

"I  turned  and,  dropping  on  my  hands  and 
knees,  started  to  climb  back,  but  slipped  and 
fell  upon  my  face  and  then  began  to  slide.  Roll- 
ing over  on  my  back  I  tried  to  dig  my  heels 
into  the  hard  crust.  This  swayed  my  body 
around,  and  the  next  instant  I  was  scooting 
over  the  crust  head  down.  Then  the  stock  of 
my  gun  cut  through  the  crust  and  retarded  my 
progress  enough  to  swing  me  back  until  I  lay 
in  an  upright  position,  but  the  next  instant  the 
stock  lost  its  grip  and  once  more  I  descended 
head  foremost. 

*' Spinning  round  and  round  in  this  manner, 
first  to  one  side,  then  to  the  other,  I  whizzed 
over  the  snow  until  the  air  whistled  in  my  ears, 
and  I  became  so  dazed  that  I  could  scarcely 
tell  when  I  was  right  side  up  and  when  not. 

*'The  uppermost  thought  in  my  mind  was: 


260    AFRICAN  ADVENTURE  STORIES 

*  Where  am  I  going  to  land, — would  it  be  at 
the  bottom  of  some  deep  crevasse  or  out  on  a 
harmless  tract  of  snow? 

"Gradually  my  speed  began  to  slacken,  for 
I  was  nearing  the  foot  of  the  incline.  Working 
the  shotgun  strap  over  my  shoulder,  I  gripped 
the  gun-barrels  in  my  left  hand,  seized  the 
pistol-grip  in  the  other,  and  throwing  the  stock 
of  the  gun  under  my  right  arm,  I  bore  down  on 
it  with  all  my  weight.  The  sharp  rubber  heel- 
plate cut  through  the  crust  and  finally  brought 
me  to  a  full  stop. 

"Where  could  I  be?  The  drift  on  which  I 
had  been  travelling  when  I  fell  extended  on 
eastward,  fully  half  a  mile  beyond  the  hard 
snow  I  had  attempted  to  cross.  I  could  not 
have  wandered  that  far  before  losing  my  way, 
therefore  I  must  have  gone  too  far  to  the 
right  and  tobogganed  down  the  very  snow- 
bank that  I  had  circled  during  the  afternoon. 
In  other  words,  I  had  taken  a  short  cut  to  the 
exact  position  I  was  seeking — the  middle  of  the 
drift  where  I  had  first  stepped  upon  the  snow. 

"There  was  nothing  to  do  now  but  to  wait 
for  Brown  to  come,  provided  he  did  come.  I 
had  lost  all  count  of  time  but  felt  that  it  must 


SNOW-BLIND  ON  MOUNT  KENIA     261 

be  long  after  midnight.  How  penetrating  the 
chilly  air  was,  and  how  my  eyes  ached,  now 
that  there  was  nothing  to  occupy  my  attention ! 
The  rocks  could  not  be  very  far  away,  for  oc- 
casionally the  shrill  cry  of  a  restless  rock  hy- 
rax  floated  up  from  below.  Once  I  heard  ele- 
phants trumpeting  in  the  heather  three  miles 
away. 

"And  so  the  weary  minutes  formed  the  hours 
until  suddenly  I  thought  that  I  heard  a  bird 
singing;  yes,  it  was  a  bird,  the  twittering  of  a 
sunbird.  Oh,  what  a  welcome  sound  was  that 
heralder  of  dawn! 

"If  Brown  could  only  strike  my  trail  at  once 
he  would  be  here  in  a  few  hours.  I  waited  until 
I  thought  that  he  might  be  within  hearing,  then 
at  intervals  of  about  half  a  minute  fired  three 
shots — the  universal  signal  of  distress.  The 
echoes  roared  back  from  the  mountain  peak  as 
eagerly  I  listened  for  an  answer,  but  it  did  not 
come.  I  waited  another  hour,  then  fired  three 
more  shots,  but  still  no  reply. 

"An  inventory  of  my  cartridge-belt  showed 
nine  cartridges  left.  The  third  signal  of  three 
shots  failed  also  to  bring  an  answer,  so,  dis- 
couraged and  weak  from  hunger  and  lack  of 


262    AFRICAN  ADVENTURE  STORIES 

sleep,  I  started  on,  feeling  with  my  shotgun 
before  taking  a  step.  Every  fifteen  minutes  I 
stopped  and  fired  a  single  shot.  In  this  way 
I  must  have  travelled  for  an  hour  and  then 
fired  another  shot.  The  echo  from  the  moun- 
tain peak  came  from  behind  me,  so  I  knew  that 
I  had  turned  too  far  to  the  left.  Facing  about, 
I  had  taken  but  a  few  steps  when  far  off  in 
the  distance  came  the  unmistakable  report  of  a 
rifle.  I  leaped  into  the  air  from  joy  and  began 
shouting  and  waving  my  hands,  but  on  second 
thought  realised  that  Brown  was  yet  too  far 
off  to  see  me. 

"Fifteen  minutes  later  I  fired  my  last  car- 
tridge and  received  a  reply  from  very  near,  and 
then  I  heard  Brown  shout: 

"*What  in  thunder  are  you  doing  up  there? 
If  you  think  I'm  coming  up  after  you  you're 
jolly  well  mistaken.' 

"*I  can't  come  down;  I'm  snow-blind,'  I 
shouted  back. 

"'Where  have  you  been  all  this  time?'  he  in- 
quired as  he  came  up. 

"'Wandering  about  on  the  snow  all  night; 
and  I  took  a  fine  toboggan  slide  to  wind  up 
with!'     I  answered. 


SNOW-BLIND  ON  MOUNT  KENIA     263 

"*You  look  it.  You're  as  white  as  a  sheet. 
Here,  take  a  hoot  of  this;  and  here's  a  sandwich. 
I  thought  you  would  need  something  when  I 
found  you.' 

"'How  did  you  find  me?  What  made  you 
think  I  was  up  here?'  I  inquired. 

*'*Well,'  he  began  *you  remember  that  you 
had  said  you  wanted  to  come  up  here,  so,  when 
you  didn't  appear  last  night  and  I  saw  that  the 
barometer  was  missing,  I  knew  you  must  have 
gone  for  the  snow,  as  we  have  taken  altitudes  at 
lower  levels.  Soon  I  struck  your  tracks  on  the 
ridge  back  there  and  managed  to  keep  them 
fairly  well  until  I  heard  your  shouts,  and  then 
I  started  on  a  run.' 

"He  led  me  back  to  camp,  and  after  three 
days  in  the  tent  my  sight  gradually  returned, 
and  then  we  packed  up  and  descended  to  the 
forest  station." 


CHAPTER  XX 

CAPTURED   BY   AFRICAN   SAVAGES 

WHEN  our  party  arrived  at  Nimule,  my 
first  act  was  to  send  some  letters  to 
America,  and   as   I   approached   the 
post-office  I  found  the  following  warning  posted 
on  the  door: 

Nimule,  16th  November,  1909. 
It  is  with  deep  regret  that  the  commissioner 
of  the  Nile  District  has  to  report  the  murder 
of  Mr.  Buccura,  a  big-game  hunter,  by  the 
natives  of  the  Lado  Enclave  at  Katurunga, 
seven  hours'  march  N.  W.  of  Dufili,  on  the  8th 
inst. 

Hunters  and  sportsmen  are  warned  of  the 
apparent  truculence  of  these  particular  natives 
and  are  cautioned  against  them. 

(Signed)  R.  D.  Anderson, 

Com.  Nile  District. 

It  was  only  the  week  before  this  report 
reached  Nimule  that  Frank  Barrett  had  started 
into  this  very  country  to  hunt  ivory  and  to 
trade  with  the  natives. 

264 


CAPTURED  BY  AFRICAN  SAVAGES    265 

On  reaching  his  destination  and  utterly  igno- 
rant of  danger,  he  began  a  brisk  trade  with  the 
blacks.  They  appeared  to  be  very  friendly. 
Nearly  every  day  they  brought  him  milk,  fruit, 
and  sweet  potatoes.  But  one  morning  they 
arrived  at  his  camp  earlier  than  usual,  and  by 
ten  o'clock  fully  a  hundred  natives  had  assem- 
bled. Such  a  throng  made  Barrett  somewhat 
suspicious,  but  they  all  seemed  in  good  spirits, 
and  some  of  them  made  a  few  trifling  exchanges. 

After  a  time  they  formed  a  wide  circle  and 
began  dancing  and  singing.  Barrett  did  not 
suspect  treachery  until  he  realised  that  they 
were  gradually  closing  in  upon  him.  Trying 
not  to  betray  any  nervousness,  he  carelessly 
picked  up  his  rifle  and  began  wiping  it  with 
his  handkerchief;  finally  he  sat  down  in  front 
of  the  tent,  with  the  rifle  resting  across  his 
knees. 

Presently  one  of  his  porters  came  up  and 
asked  to  have  his  injured  foot  examined.  As 
Barrett  leaned  forward  a  black  rushed  up  from 
behind  and  snatched  his  gun;  then  the  treacher- 
ous crowd  leaped  upon  the  white  man  and  bore 
him  to  the  ground.  In  a  few  moments  they  had 
tied  his  hands  and  fastened  one  end  of  a  ten- 


266    AFRICAN  ADVENTURE  STORIES 

foot  rope  about  his  neck.  Seeing  their  master 
a  prisoner,  Barrett's  porters  bolted  into  the 
brush;  two  of  them  were  struck  down  with  clubs 
and  spears. 

Barrett  was  then  made  to  rise  and  walk. 
Three  men,  who  carried  his  shotgun,  elephant 
rifle,  and  repeater,  walked  beside  him  and  fre- 
quently threatened  him.  A  fourth  man  led 
him  by  the  rope  along  a  well-beaten  trail. 

As  he  plodded  along,  a  captive  of  villainous 
savages,  Barrett  wondered  what  would  be  the 
outcome.  That  death  would  eventually  end 
his  misery  he  had  little  doubt;  but  in  what 
form?  That  was  the  question  uppermost  in  his 
mind.  He  thought  of  the  many  methods  of  tor- 
ture that  savage  brains  can  devise,  and  he  won- 
dered which  one  of  them  it  would  be  his  fate 
to  draw. 

Barrett  hoped  that  some  of  his  porters  had 
escaped  and  that  they  would  succeed  in  passing 
through  the  treacherous  country  safely  and  in 
bringing  help.  But  when  he  realised  that  that 
would  take  a  week  at  least  he  knew  that  he 
must  find  some  way  to  outwit  his  captors.  He 
could  not  speak  their  language,  and  therefore 
he  could  not  threaten  them  with  what  would 


CAPTURED  BY  AFRICAN  SAVAGES    267 

happen  when  the  British  soldiers  learned  of  his 
death. 

At  about  six  o'clock,  after  travelHng  some  fif- 
teen miles,  Barrett  and  his  escort  arrived  at  a 
village.  The  people  swarmed  out  to  see  him. 
He  was  led  through  an  opening  in  the  brush 
fence  and  taken  before  the  chief. 

The  chief  ordered  that  he  be  taken  to  a  grass 
hut.  Then  Barrett  was  given  a  supper  of  boiled 
mutton  and  sweet  potatoes.  With  his  feet  tied 
and  his  hands  bound  together  in  front  of  him, 
he  spent  the  night  lying  on  a  bed  of  dried 
grass.  His  arms  and  legs  ached  badly  and  he 
slept  but  little.  When  day  dawned  two  women 
brought  him  a  breakfast  of  boiled  bananas 
and  mutton  and  relieved  the  guards  who  had 
kept  watch  all  night  at  the  entrance  of  the 
hut. 

After  breakfast  two  other  guards  escorted 
Barrett  to  the  centre  of  the  village,  where, 
under  a  large  tree,  the  chief  and  a  number  of 
head  men  were  seated  in  a  circle.  Barrett's 
captors  placed  him  before  the  chief.  The  vil- 
lagers formed  a  wide  circle  on  the  outside; 
whenever  they  pressed  forward  too  far  guards 
with  sticks  severely  beat  them. 


268    AFRICAN  ADVENTURE  STORIES 

The  chief  sat  on  a  stool,  with  his  feet  on  a 
grass  mat.  A  leopard  skin  was  tied  about  his 
loins,  and  from  his  right  shoulder  was  draped 
a  blue  silk  sash  that  was  tied  at  the  waist  on 
the  left  side.  His  air  was  important  and  he 
took  full  charge  of  the  ceremony. 

Barrett  was  untied  and  his  trial — ^for  such 
it  seemed  to  be — began.  What  law  or  laws  he 
was  charged  with  violating  he  could  not  make 
out.  The  trial  lasted  two  days;  the  men  who 
had  seized  him  were  the  chief  witnesses  and 
gave  their  testimony  both  by  word  and  by 
action,  dramatically  rehearsing  the  incidents  of 
his  capture. 

He  was  well  fed  and  given  water  whenever 
by  signs  he  indicated  that  he  was  thirsty.  This 
treatment  puzzled  him.  Was  he  to  receive  a 
mild  sentence  or  were  the  savages  preparing 
him  for  some  horrible  end? 

During  the  first  part  of  the  trial  Barrett  paid 
close  attention,  in  the  hope  of  gaining  some  idea 
of  the  charge  that  was  made  against  him,  but, 
faihng  in  this,  he  began  to  think  of  some  way  to 
escape.  So  far  throughout  his  imprisonment 
he  had  tried  to  maintain  an  air  of  unconcern, 
in  order  to  make  his  captors  believe  that  he 


CAPTURED  BY  AFRICAN  SAVAGES    269 

thought  himself  in  no  great  danger  and  perhaps 
cause  them  to  relax  their  vigilance. 

There  was  small  hope  of  escape  from  the 
hut  in  which  he  spent  the  nights.  His  guards 
bound  his  hands  and  feet  and,  moreover,  kept 
watch  with  his  guns  outside.  On  the  third 
morning  they  freed  only  his  legs.  After  that 
they  tied  a  bark  rope  ten  feet  long  round  his 
neck  and  led  him  outside  before  a  throng  of 
shouting  men,  women,  and  children.  He  thought 
that  the  death  sentence  had  been  pronounced 
and  that  the  crowd  had  gathered  to  witness 
his  execution. 

The  guards  led  him  through  the  shouting, 
jeering  throng,  out  of  the  village,  and  down  a 
trail.  After  a  time  the  people  who  had  fol- 
lowed began  to  turn  back.  Barrett  knew  then 
that,  for  the  present  at  least,  no  harm  was  com- 
ing to  him;  for  if  he  were  to  be  killed  the  vil- 
lagers would  certainly  wish  to  be  present. 

All  that  day  Barrett  and  his  guards  travelled 
northward.  They  stopped  for  the  midday  meal 
at  one  village  and  at  nightfall  reached  another 
one.  There  Barrett's  guards  turned  him  over 
to  new  guards,  who  took  the  rifles  and  watched 
the  hut  in  which  he  lay  bound.     For  two  more 


270    AFRICAN  ADVENTURE  STORIES 

days  the  white  man  was  kept  moving  at  the 
rate  of  about  fifteen  or  twenty  miles  a  day. 
The  apparent  object  of  all  this  travel  was  to  ex- 
hibit him  to  the  people;  at  every  village  there 
was  a  crowd  collected  that  followed  for  several 
miles,  jeering  and  taunting  the  prisoner. 

On  the  evening  of  the  third  day  Barrett  was 
placed  in  a  hut  that  was  evidently  a  storehouse, 
for  piled  against  the  sides  were  heaps  of  sweet 
potatoes  and  husked  corn  that  had  lately  been 
harvested;  here  and  there  were  grass  baskets 
and  huge  earthen  pots  filled  with  meal  and 
tempting  sweet  potatoes.  Large  pieces  had  been 
chipped  from  the  rims  of  several  jars,  and  the 
edges  were  rough  and  jagged.  It  occurred  to 
Barrett  that  he  could  saw  the  rope  from  his 
bound  hands  on  the  edges  of  the  broken  crockery. 

After  a  supper  of  boiled  seeds  that  reminded 
him  of  a  flaxseed  poultice  the  guards,  as  usual, 
tied  his  feet  together  and  bound  his  hands  in 
front  of  him. 

It  was  after  midnight  before  the  villagers 
stopped  their  singing  and  dancing,  a  nightly 
performance.  Barrett  could  hear  the  guards 
moving  about  outside,  but  they  had  ceased 
talking  and  evidently   were   becoming   sleepy. 


HIS  GUARDS  BOUND  HIS  HANDS  AND  FEET 


CAPTURED  BY  AFRICAN  SAVAGES    271 

Carefully  he  crawled  on  hands  and  knees  until 
he  reached  the  pots;  then  he  felt  about  for 
one  with  a  sharp,  broken  rim.  By  sitting  down 
and  dragging  the  jar  over  his  feet  he  got  it 
between  his  knees  and,  gripping  it  tight,  began 
to  saw  the  rope  on  the  rough  edges  of  the 
broken  part.  At  first  he  worked  slowly  for 
fear  of  making  a  noise,  but  he  found  that  he 
could  bear  down  quite  hard  without  producing 
any  sound. 

From  time  to  time  he  twisted  his  little  fingers 
round  to  find  out  what  progress  he  was  making; 
he  was  delighted  at  the  rapidity  with  which 
the  dry  bark  yielded.  At  intervals  he  stopped 
to  listen  for  the  guards.  In  fifteen  or  twenty 
minutes  his  hands  suddenly  dropped  on  each 
side  of  the  pot  with  a  jerk;  the  rope  had  parted. 
In  ten  minutes  more  he  had  untied  his  feet, 
and  was  at  least  "fighting  free." 

His  first  move  was  to  crawl  to  a  pile  of  sweet 
potatoes;  from  it  he  selected  four  large  ones 
and  tucked  them  into  the  front  of  his  shirt; 
then  he  crept  to  the  entrance  of  the  hut  and 
peeped  out.  The  darkness  inside  made  it  easy 
to  see  into  the  starlit  night. 

One  of  the  guards  sat  leaning  against  the 


272    AFRICAN  ADVENTURE  STORIES 

side  of  the  hut,  asleep  or  dozing;  the  elephant 
rifle  stood  by  his  side.  The  other  guard  was 
about  ten  feet  away,  with  his  back  to  the  hut. 
Barrett  cautiously  reached  out  and  drew  the 
rifle  to  him.  For  a  long  time  the  active  sentry 
walked  back  and  forth  past  the  entrance;  occa- 
sionally he  stopped  and  gazed  about.  Barrett, 
crouching  in  the  shadow  inside,  waited  for  him 
to  come  within  reach. 

It  was  fully  half  an  hour  before  he  came 
close  to  the  door  and,  turning,  stood  with  his 
back  toward  the  entrance,  not  six  feet  away. 
Instantly  Barrett  sprang  forward  and  dealt 
him  a  stunning  blow  over  the  head  with  the 
rifle.  He  sank  to  the  ground  like  a  stone, 
and  the  repeater  fell  from  his  hands.  Barrett 
snatched  it  up,  wheeled  about,  and  found  that 
the  other  man  had  been  awakened  by  the 
scuffle  and  was  on  his  knees  fumbhng  about 
for  his  missing  weapon.  Barrett  swung  at  him, 
but  the  guard  dodged  the  blow  and  darted  be- 
hind the  hut. 

Barrett  was  half-way  to  the  entrance  of  the 
kraal  before  the  frightened  savage  regained  his 
wits  and  began  to  yell.  As  Barrett  pulled 
away  the  brush  that  at  night  always  blocks 


CAPTURED  BY  AFRICAN  SAVAGES    273 

the  entrance  of  the  kraal  he  glanced  back  and 
saw  the  villagers  swarming  from  their  huts. 
He  fired  a  shot  in  their  direction,  in  order  to 
hold  them  in  check,  and  in  a  few  seconds  more 
cleared  the  opening  and  started  down  the  trail. 
The  war  drums  and  shouts  of  the  excited  sav- 
ages spurred  him  to  top  speed. 

For  fully  a  mile  he  kept  the  course;  then  he 
turned  off  into  the  brush  and  paused  to  get  his 
breath.  The  blacks  had  stopped  shouting,  but 
the  war  drums  were  still  beating,  and  Barrett 
knew  that  the  trails  must  be  swarming  with 
pursuers. 

During  the  preceding  days  of  travel  he  had 
carefully  observed  the  direction  in  which  he 
was  being  taken  and  had  learned  that  the 
general  course  was  north  and  parallel  to  the 
Nile,  which  lay  to  the  west.  He  now  had  hope 
of  reaching  the  river  within  two  or  three  days 
and  of  intercepting  the  regular  mail-boat  that 
plied  once  a  week  between  Butiaba  and  Nimule. 
Once  out  of  the  hostile  country,  he  would  soon 
fall  in  with  friendly  "Shenzies,"  who  would 
surely  give  him  assistance. 

He  climbed  a  tree  and  got  the  points  of 
the  compass  from  the  southern  cross;  then  he 


274    AFRICAN  ADVENTURE  STORIES 

struck  out  again,  moving  cautiously.  Wherever 
it  was  possible,  he  followed  game  trails  and 
disused  paths.  His  rifle  was  cocked  and  ready 
for  instant  use,  but  he  had  determined  to  fire 
it  only  as  a  last  resort;  he  meant  to  husband 
the  four  remaining  cartridges  for  an  emergency. 

At  first  he  skulked  along  like  a  hunted  ani- 
mal, stopping  to  scrutinise  every  dark  object; 
but  as  he  proceeded  farther  and  farther  he 
gained  courage  and  travelled  faster.  When 
dawn  broke,  he  judged  that  he  was  fifteen  miles 
from  his  captors. 

He  spent  the  day  in  a  dense  papyrus  swamp, 
and  ventured  into  the  open  only  long  enough 
to  gather  a  little  fire-wood.  When  darkness 
set  in  he  built  a  fire  in  the  thick  green  papy- 
rus, roasted  and  ate  two  sweet  potatoes,  and 
then,  making  sure  of  his  bearings,  again  struck 
out. 

The  second  night's  travel  was  without  inci- 
dent. He  came  upon  two  villages  but  circled 
them  safely.  By  dayhght  he  had  covered  an- 
other fifteen  or  twenty  miles  and  knew  now 
that  he  must  be  near  friendly  natives.  But  he 
thought  it  wise  to  keep  in  hiding  for  another 
day  at  least. 


CAPTURED  BY  AFRICAN  SAVAGES    275 

From  the  edge  of  the  ten-foot  elephant-grass 
where  he  hid,  he  saw  plenty  of  hartebeest  and 
water-buck.  Although  he  longed  for  fresh  meat, 
he  dared  not  risk  a  shot  at  the  animals.  Late 
in  the  afternoon  he  was  awakened  by  the 
voices  of  women  who  were  evidently  gathering 
wood  near  by.  As  soon  as  it  was  dark  enough 
he  cooked  his  last  sweet  potatoes,  and  when  he 
had  eaten  them  he  struck  out  once  more  on 
his  journey. 

That  night's  travel  was  the  hardest  he  had 
experienced.  There  were  many  lagoons  and 
swamps  of  papyrus,  and  in  order  to  get  round 
one  of  them  he  had  to  tramp  fully  five  miles 
out  of  his  way.  When  morning  came  he  felt 
sure  that  he  had  gone  less  than  ten  miles  in  a 
direct  line. 

As  soon  as  the  sun  rose  he  climbed  a  tree 
and  saw  a  small  banana  grove  about  a  mile 
away.  He  was  hungry,  and  the  good  luck  he 
had  had  so  far  made  him  bold.  He  was  walk- 
ing somewhat  carelessly  along  a  trail  toward 
the  grove  when,  in  a  sharp  bend,  he  came  face 
to  face  with  a  woman  carrying  several  gourds 
of  milk.  A  boy  about  ten  years  old  was  walk- 
ing behind  her. 


276    AFRICAN  ADVENTURE  STORIES 

Instantly  Barrett  covered  the  woman  with 
the  rifle.  The  frightened  creature  dropped  the 
gourds  and  began  to  sob;  the  boy  turned  and 
bolted  down  the  trail. 

A  moment  later  the  woman  spoke,  and  Bar- 
rett recognised  a  friendly  tongue.  At  once  he 
explained  his  situation,  and  the  woman  turned 
and  walked  with  him  down  the  path.  Suddenly 
the  war  drums  began  beating;  the  boy  had 
given  the  alarm.  Terrifying  as  the  sound  had 
once  been,  it  was  now  to  Barrett  the  sweetest 
music. 

In  a  remarkably  short  time  the  warriors, 
armed  with  spears  and  big  shields,  appeared; 
but  when  they  saw  Barrett  returning  with  the 
woman,  who  threw  up  her  hands  and  shouted 
to  them,  they  stopped.  In  a  few  minutes  more 
Barrett  was  telling  his  story  to  the  chief.  In 
an  hour  the  white  man  was  eating  the  first 
substantial  meal  that  he  had  had  in  three  days. 

He  rested  until  noon  and  then  set  out  with 
a  guide  for  the  Nile,  which  was  distant  only  a 
short  day's  march.  Soon  after  dark  that  eve- 
ning he  reached  a  village  on  the  bank  of  the 
river,  and  stayed  there  until  the  mail-boat 
arrived,  two  days  later,  and  took  him  aboard. 


CAPTURED  BY  AFRICAN  SAVAGES    277 

On  arriving  at  Nimule,  Barrett  found,  as  he 
had  expected,  that  most  of  his  porters  had  ar- 
rived safely.  They  had  found  the  bodies  of 
two  of  their  companions  in  the  brush  and  had 
spread  a  report  that  he  also  had  been  killed. 
Twelve  of  his  men  never  returned  and  un- 
doubtedly were  killed  by  the  savages. 


CHAPTER  XXI 

CORNERED   BY   BABOONS 

THE  Roosevelt  African  expedition  en- 
countered many  baboons.  We  found 
them  in  troops  of  hundreds  frequenting 
both  the  rocky  country  and  the  bush-veldt.  As 
soon  as  an  ape  caught  sight  of  us  he  gave  the 
alarm  by  uttering  a  warning  bark;  at  once  the 
whole  army  would  scurry  off  to  the  cliffs. 
Without  showing  the  slightest  fear  of  falling, 
they  would  perch  a  hundred  feet  or  more  above 
our  heads,  with  their  tails  hanging  over  the 
edge  of  the  cliff  in  an  extremely  ludicrous  man- 
ner. It  was  interesting  to  see  a  mother  bound- 
ing from  rock  to  rock  with  her  young  one  cling- 
ing to  her  breast  or  perched  on  her  back. 
When  she  finally  reached  the  chffs  she  would 
sit  in  a  most  human  manner  and  hold  her  off- 
spring in  her  arms. 

We  found  their  footprints  in  the  mud  along 
the  waterways  and  pools  and  in  the  sand  and 
dirt.  As  bands  of  the  animals  frequented  the 
same  general  locality  until  they  had  cause  to 

278 


CORNERED  BY  BABOONS        279 

leave,  they  wore  well-defined  trails  about  the 
base  of  the  cliffs  and  in  the  thick  jungle  along 
the  streams. 

While  we  were  passing  through  Uganda  on 
our  way  to  the  lake  country,  I  left  camp  one 
afternoon  to  set  a  line  of  traps  for  small  mam- 
mals. A  deep  pool  of  clear  water  tempted 
me.  I  undressed  and,  leaving  my  clothes,  bag 
of  traps,  and  rifle  on  the  high  bank,  plunged 
in  for  a  swim.  Finally,  tiring  of  what  was  a 
rare  diversion  in  this  generally  waterless  tract 
of  Central  Africa,  I  climbed  out.  Scrambling 
up  the  bank,  I  poked  my  head  over  the  edge 
and  found  myself  face  to  face  with  a  huge 
baboon.  The  animal  was  standing  beside  my 
belongings.  Evidently  he  had  just  discovered 
them.  I  have  often  wondered  what  he  would 
have  done  with  my  clothes  had  I  not  disturbed 
him.  Upon  seeing  me  he  burst  into  a  discon- 
certing guffaw  and  then  wheeled  about  and 
scurried  away. 

The  troop,  of  which  he  seemed  to  be  the 
leader,  was  following  close  behind;  when  he 
gave  the  alarm  they  took  the  cue  and  stam- 
peded. I  watched  them  bound  over  the  hun- 
dred yards  of  open  country,  cross  the  creek. 


280    AFRICAN  ADVENTURE  STORIES 

and  clamber  up  a  tree  that  grew  at  the  foot  of 
a  perpendicular  bank.  From  there  they  ran 
out  on  a  limb  and  jumped  to  the  ground.  The 
stream  of  dropping  baboons  looked  like  an  ani- 
mated cataract.  The  instant  they  struck  the 
ground  they  were  hidden  by  the  tall  grass,  but 
I  caught  sight  of  them  again  as  they  paused  for 
a  few  seconds  at  an  opening  a  little  farther  on 
to  look  back  and  give  me  a  derisive  bark. 

Although  we  heard  that  baboons  would  some- 
times attack  a  person,  there  was  only  one  au- 
thentic case  that  came  to  our  notice  of  baboons 
having  actually  killed  a  person.  The  father  of 
one  of  Colonel  Roosevelt's  trackers  had  been 
killed  by  baboons.  His  body  was  horribly  man- 
gled and  torn;  near  by  was  a  dead  ape  pierced 
with  a  spear,  so  probably  the  attack  was  not 
unprovoked. 

An  Englishman  who  was  the  owner  of  a  large 
estate  in  British  East  Africa  once  had  a  narrow 
escape  from  baboons.  It  was  his  habit  to  rise 
early  and  take  a  long  ride  before  breakfast.  At 
daylight  one  morning  he  mounted  his  horse 
and,  throwing  his  rifle  across  the  saddle  in  front 
of  him,  started  out  on  a  tour  of  inspection.  He 
had  travelled  possibly  three  miles  without  seeing 


CORNERED  BY  BABOONS        281 

more  than  the  usual  number  of  zebras,  harte- 
beests,  wildebeests,  and  Grant's  and  Thomson's 
gazelles,  when  suddenly,  upon  issuing  from  a 
bit  of  brush -veldt,  he  came  to  the  edge  of  a 
deep  ravine  through  which,  during  the  rainy 
season,  a  stream  had  flowed. 

A  much-worn  and  broken  sandstone  cliff  that 
varied  from  five  to  fifty  feet  in  height  capped 
the  top  of  the  gorge  on  both  sides.  The  steep 
banks  were  strewn  thickly  with  boulders  and 
great  masses  of  rock  that  had  broken  from  their 
foundations  and  rolled  down  the  hillside.  Here 
and  there  were  bushes  and  small  trees,  and  in 
the  bottom,  some  two  hundred  feet  below,  the 
dry  creek  bed  was  filled  with  foliage. 

The  beautiful  sunrise,  the  magnificent  scenery, 
and  the  clear,  crisp  air  led  the  Englishman  to 
tie  his  horse  to  a  tree  some  distance  from  the 
cliff  and  to  sit  down  by  a  bush  overlooking  the 
caiion. 

Suddenly  he  saw  a  slight  movement  among 
the  rocks  far  down  the  ravine  on  the  opposite 
side  of  the  gorge.  Through  his  binoculars  he 
recognised  the  animal  as  a  baboon.  Then  ap- 
peared another  and  another,  until  the  cliff 
seemed  to  be  alive  with  the  creatures. 


282    AFRICAN  ADVENTURE  STORIES 

To  the  Englishman,  baboons  were  fascinating 
animals.  So  from  pure  curiosity  he  stepped 
behind  the  bush  and  awaited  their  coming. 
Stopping  now  and  then  to  turn  over  a  stone  in 
search  of  mice  and  insects,  while  the  young  ones 
frisked  and  capered  about  like  children  in  a 
froHc,  the  baboons  worked  their  way  slowly  along 
through  the  rocks.  Closer  and  closer  they  came 
until  they  were  nearly  opposite  him. 

For  fully  half  an  hour  he  watched  them  play- 
ing and  feeding;  the  antics  of  the  young  ones 
were  so  amusing  that  several  times  he  nearly 
betrayed  his  presence  by  laughing  aloud. 

A  young  baboon  was  busy  overturning  stones 
when  a  mischievous  companion  sneaked  up  be- 
hind and  grabbed  it  by  the  tail  and  the  two  en- 
gaged in  a  friendly  tussle.  Then  off  they  went 
over  the  rocks,  and  as  they  passed  through  the 
troop  other  youngsters  joined  in  the  chase, 
which  ended  in  a  grand  rough-and-tumble  scrim- 
mage. 

No  sooner  had  this  scuffle  subsided  and  the 
participants  returned  to  their  respective  moth- 
ers than  a  young  baboon  would  start  something 
going  in  another  section  of  the  throng. 

During  one  of  these  scenes  an  accident  hap- 


•      CORNERED  BY  BABOONS        283 

pened  to  one  of  the  youngsters  that  involved 
the  EngHshman  in  the  performance. 

Two  young  baboons  were  engaged  in  a  strug- 
gle on  the  opposite  side  of  the  gorge.  Suddenly 
they  broke  away;  the  one  who  had  been  getting 
the  worst  of  the  struggle  turned  quickly  and 
started  to  run.  At  that  moment  a  third  animal 
rushed  up  and  headed  it  off.  Seeing  that  its 
escape  was  blocked  from  that  quarter,  the  lit- 
tle fellow  again  turned  and  tried  to  dodge  past 
its  first  antagonist.  The  somewhat  larger  and 
stronger  animal  was  too  quick  for  it,  however, 
and  the  two  came  together  violently  on  the  very 
brink  of  the  thirty -foot  precipice. 

The  force  of  the  impact  sent  the  young  ape 
toppling  over  the  edge  of  the  cliff.  Its  little 
arms  reached  out  in  a  vain  effort  to  find  a  grip 
and  the  next  instant  it  was  falling  through  the 
air  to  the  jagged  rocks  below. 

There  was  a  faint  thud  as  the  little  body 
struck;  then  it  lay  motionless. 

The  Englishman  snatched  his  rifle  and,  run- 
ning along  the  edge  of  the  cliff,  found  a  place 
to  descend.  The  instant  he  appeared,  the  troop 
caught  sight  of  him  and  bounded  up  into  the 
high  rocks,  where  they  sat  chattering  and  scold- 


284    AFRICAN  ADVENTURE  STORIES 

ing,  unaware  of  the  accident  that  had  hap- 
pened to  one  of  their  number. 

Soon  he  was  standing  by  the  side  of  the 
young  baboon.  A  hasty  examination  showed 
that  no  bones  had  been  broken  by  the  fall. 
The  Englishman  picked  it  up  and,  carrying  it 
to  a  pool  of  water  in  the  bottom  of  the  ravine, 
bathed  its  head.  In  a  few  moments  it  had  so 
far  regained  consciousness  that  it  sat  up  and 
looked  about  in  a  stupid  manner. 

Just  what  to  do  with  it  was  a  question.  As 
it  was  in  no  condition  to  take  care  of  itself,  the 
Englishman  decided  to  take  it  home  and  care 
for  it  until  it  had  recovered  enough  to  be  given 
its  liberty. 

He  removed  his  belt,  and,  after  cutting  a  hole 
in  the  strap  with  a  knife,  he  buckled  it  about  the 
little  baboon's  neck  and  started  off. 

Everything  went  well  until  he  was  almost  at 
the  top  of  the  cliff.  Then  his  prisoner  suddenly 
gave  an  ear-piercing  scream  and  leaped  from 
his  arms.  But  he  had  a  firm  grip  on  the  strap 
and  so,  when  the  baboon  struck  the  ground  and 
started  off,  he  brought  it  up  with  a  sudden  jerk. 
There  it  stood  for  a  second,  gazing  into  the 
man's  face.    Then  it  drew  back  its  lips,  tugged 


CORNERED  BY  BABOONS        285 

violently  at  the  tether,  and  began  to  scream  at 
the  top  of  its  lungs.  The  Englishman  attempted 
to  comfort  the  youngster,  but  the  more  he  tried, 
the  louder  it  screamed. 

The  other  baboons  now  worked  themselves 
into  a  frenzy.  Suddenly  the  whole  troop  came 
streaming  down  from  the  cliff.  That  they  were 
actually  charging  did  not  enter  the  man's  mind. 

"Well,"  he  thought,  "if  those  animals  think 
they  can  take  care  of  this  little  fellow,  I  will 
give  them  the  chance." 

He  unbuckled  the  strap,  and  off  the  young- 
ster bounded  over  the  rocks  toward  the  onrush- 
ing  baboons. 

One  that  was  evidently  its  mother  ran  up. 
The  little  one  threw  its  arms  about  her  body 
and  was  borne  off,  clinging  to  her  under-side. 

It  was  natural  to  suppose,  now  that  she  had 
regained  her  baby,  the  other  baboons  would  be 
satisfied.  But  no!  On  they  came,  as  furious 
and  excited  as  ever. 

When  the  huge  "dog"  baboon  that  was  lead- 
ing the  charge  showed  no  inclination  to  halt, 
the  Englishman  realised  his  danger.  He  saw 
that  he  stood  no  chance  against  a  hundred  or 
more  of  the  infuriated  creatures,  each  one  of 


286     AFRICAN  ADVENTURE  STORIES 

which  had  canine  teeth  as  long  and  as  sharp  as 
those  of  a  mastiff  dog. 

It  was  fully  a  hundred  feet  to  the  top  of  the 
cliff.  There  was  nothing  for  him  to  do  except 
to  look  for  a  place  in  which  to  hide. 

At  intervals  the  soft,  sandstone  ledge  had 
cracked  and  split  open  and  the  action  of  the 
weather,  together  with  the  gradual  settling  of 
the  rock,  had  caused  the  fissures  to  spread  into 
varying  widths.  A  V-shaped  recess,  not  more 
than  three  feet  wide  at  the  entrance  and  run- 
ning back  into  the  rocks  some  fifteen  feet,  was 
the  nearest  available  refuge  that  he  could  find. 
The  baboons,  widely  scattered  when  they  first 
began  charging,  concentrated  as  they  drew  near. 
When  the  Englishman  ducked  into  the  crevice, 
cocked  his  rifle,  and  stood  waiting  to  meet  their 
onslaught,  they  formed  a  solid  mass  of  screaming, 
howling  demons.  For  a  few  seconds  they  dis- 
appeared from  view;  the  next  instant  they  came 
bounding  over  the  rocks  like  a  pack  of  famished 
wolves. 

When  they  were  within  ten  feet  of  the  open- 
ing, the  Englishman  fired.  They  jumped  aside 
and  one  of  them  rolled  down  the  hill.  The  oth- 
ers scattered  and  ducked  out  of  sight.     But  soon 


CORNERED  BY  BABOONS        287 

they  began  to  reappear  from  behind  the  rocks; 
they  stood  raihng  and  bawHng.  The  bedlam 
of  noises  seemed  to  come  from  the  very  walls 
themselves,  and  the  drums  of  the  man's  ears 
seemed  on  the  point  of  bursting. 

Suddenly  sand  and  dirt  began  to  shower 
down  from  overhead.  Looking  up,  he  was  hor- 
rified to  discover  that  baboons  were  swarm- 
ing on  the  rocks  above  him.  On  either  side, 
along  the  opening,  two  rows  of  hideous  faces 
showed  themselves.  Now  and  then  an  animal 
too  closely  pressed  by  those  behind  would 
spring  to  the  opposite  side  to  keep  itself  from 
falling  into  the  fissure.  The  grotesque  figures 
jumping  back  and  forth  were  like  caricatures 
of  boys  playing  at  leap-frog.  One  particularly 
inquisitive  baboon,  which,  perhaps,  had  so  far 
been  robbed  of  a  view  of  the  captive,  could  not 
restrain  its  curiosity,  so  it  reached  forward, 
seized  a  companion  by  the  scruff  of  the  neck, 
and  hauled  the  animal  back  out  of  the  way. 

The  Englishman  knew  that  if  any  one  of 
the  animals  should  muster  courage  to  jump 
down,  or  to  rush  in  from  the  front,  the  other 
baboons  would  immediately  fly  to  its  assistance. 
With  the  idea  of  intimidating  them,  he  raised 


288     AFRICAN  ADVENTURE  STORIES 

his  rifle  and  swept  it  along  the  Hne  of  heads. 
But  the  agile  creatures  were  too  quick;  they  all 
dodged  back  without  being  struck. 

Then  the  baboons  in  front  charged,  and  one 
of  them,  either  intentionally,  or  from  being 
crowded  by  those  behind  it,  actually  gained 
the  entrance  to  the  crevice.  Just  in  time  the 
Englishman  turned  his  rifle  on  it. 

The  troop  scrambled  away  but  immediately 
came  back  and  stood  guard  at  the  entrance. 
With  only  three  more  cartridges  left,  the  pris- 
oner thought  it  advisable  to  hold  his  fire. 

In  front  of  the  crevice  the  animals  were 
jumping  up  and  down  on  all  fours.  Now  and 
then  a  ferocious  beast  would  rush  up  to  a  bush 
or  a  small  tree,  grasp  it,  and  shake  it  furiously. 

When  the  animals  behind  slowly  and  uncon- 
sciously crowded  the  others  forward,  the  En- 
glishman would  move  back  until  they  drew  dan- 
gerously near.  Then  he  would  lunge  forward 
and  let  out  a  piercing  yell,  and  they  would  tum- 
ble over  each  other  in  a  wild  scramble  to  safety. 
But  in  a  few  seconds  they  would  be  back  again, 
as  thick  and  pugnacious  as  ever. 

The  baboons  overhead  were  far  more  aggres- 
sive than  the  others;  they  kept  stretching  their 


CORNERED  BY  BABOONS        289 

long,  skinny  arms  down  at  the  man  until  they 
were  frightened  back  by  a  swing  of  the  rifle. 
Almost  invariably  the  baboons  in  front  took 
advantage  of  these  feints  to  make  another  sally. 
What  with  the  troop  on  the  roof  and  the  troop 
at  the  front  door,  the  Englishman  was  fully 
occupied  for  more  than  an  hour. 

At  last  the  baboons  began  to  lose  interest; 
one  by  one  they  left  the  throng  and  began 
hunting  about  in  the  rocks  for  food.  Occa- 
sionally one  would  come  tearing  back  to  resume 
hostilities,  but  these  sudden  outbursts  of  pas- 
sion were  short-lived;  soon  the  animal  would 
again  disappear. 

A  solitary  old  female,  lacking  two  toes  on 
her  left  front  foot  and  with  the  scars  of  many 
battles  on  her  face,  was  the  last  to  leave.  She 
was  trying  to  persuade  the  others  not  to  give 
up  the  fight;  she  turned  and  chattered  to  them. 
But  finally  she,  too,  lost  heart,  and  followed  the 
others  down  through  the  rocks  and  into  the 
fringe  of  trees  to  the  bottom  of  the  gully. 

When  the  animals  were  out  of  sight  the  En- 
glishman crawled  from  his  refuge  and  quickly 
climbed  to  the  top  of  the  cliff.  Then  he  mounted 
his  horse  and  returned  to  the  house,  thoroughly 


290     AFRICAN  ADVENTURE  STORIES 

convinced  that  the  best  thing  to  do  under  all 
circumstances  is  to  mind  your  own  business 
and  to  let  nature  take  its  course. 


CHAPTER  XXII 

A   FIGHT   WITH   FIVE    LIONS 

SOON  after  the  British  took  over  British 
East  Africa  a  large  number  of  Englishmen 
emigrated  to  the  new  colony  and  took  up 
homesteads.  Among  this  number  was  a  family- 
consisting  of  father,  mother,  Fritz  a  boy  of 
eighteen,  and  a  second  son  of  fourteen.  They 
settled  on  a  beautiful  strip  of  veldt  at  the  west 
side  of  the  Mwa  Hills. 

Naturally,  the  first  duty  of  a  settler  is  to  build 
a  suitable  farmhouse,  and,  as  the  owner  of  the 
new  farm  was  a  carpenter  by  trade,  this  task 
was  made  much  easier  than  it  is  to  most  home- 
steaders. Labour,  with  the  exception  of  the 
unskilled  and  slow  natives,  was  expensive  and 
hard  to  get,  and,  as  the  family  was  of  limited 
means,  every  member  helped  in  building  the 
house. 

But  let  Fritz  tell  the  story  as  he  told  it  to  me: 

"It   was    Saturday    afternoon,   and   we  had 

all  been  working  hard  that  week.     Father  and 

mother  mixed  the  mud  mortar  and  laid  the 

291 


292     AFRICAN  ADVENTURE  STORIES 

stones  for  the  foundation  of  the  house,  while 
my  brother  and  I,  with  the  stone-boat  and  a 
span  of  oxen,  hauled  the  stones  from  a  cUff  a 
half  mile  away. 

"We  had  made  four  trips  that  day  and  were 
well  tired  out,  for  it  was  no  easy  task  prying 
up  the  heavy  stones  and  rolhng  them  down  to 
where  the  boat  stood  at  the  edge  of  the  veldt. 
The  sun  had  been  beating  down  upon  us  as 
only  a  tropical  sun  can  shine,  and  the  perspira- 
tion soaked  our  clothes  and  caught  the  rising 
dust  and  dirt,  so  that  when  the  afternoon  was 
over  we  were  two  tired  and  grimy  boys.  We 
had  been  trying  hard  to  take  out  another  full 
load  of  stones  before  dark,  but  I  soon  saw  it 
would  be  impossible. 

"As  my  brother,  who  was  not  very  strong, 
appeared  somewhat  overcome  by  the  heat  and 
the  hard  work,  I  told  him  that  he  might  return 
to  the  tent — our  temporary  home — and  I  would 
put  the  half  load  on  the  stone-boat  and  follow. 

"By  the  time  I  had  finished  loading  the  boat 
Jim  had  disappeared,  and  I  started  for  the 
oxen,  grazing  on  the  veldt  several  hundred  yards 
away.  I  yoked  them  up  to  the  boat  just  as  the 
sun  went  down  behind  the  hills  and,  with  a 


A  FIGHT  WITH  FIVE  LIONS     293 

crack  of  the  big  bull-whip,  started  them  toward 
home.  They  needed  no  guiding  when  once 
headed  toward  the  kraal,  and,  as  their  normal 
gait  was  not  much  more  than  a  mile  and  a  half 
an  hour,  I  seated  myself  on  the  stones  and  put 
in  the  time  gazing  at  the  scenery. 

"About  half-way  between  the  quarry  and 
our  tent  was  a  mass  of  rocks  and  boulders  on 
the  hillside,  many  of  them  the  size  of  a  house. 
These  crags  were  the  home  of  a  Httle  band  of 
klipspringers  that  I  had  discovered  soon  after 
our  arrival  in  the  country,  and  we  had  decided 
to  protect  them  as  much  as  possible,  for  it  was 
a  pleasure  to  watch  them  scampering  about  the 
rocks.  For  want  of  something  better  to  do,  I 
began  to  scan  the  crags  in  hope  of  seeing  some 
of  the  tiny  antelope  at  play.  And,  sure  enough, 
there  they  were,  eight  of  them,  some  feeding 
quietly  in  the  grass-plots  among  the  rocks, 
others  standing  like  statues  on  the  tops  of 
boulders,  gazing  at  me. 

"  Suddenly  two  of  them  took  to  their  feet  and 
bounded  up  the  rocks  with  remarkable  agility 
and  the  rest  quickly  followed.  When  well  in 
the  cHffs  they  stopped  on  points  of  vantage  and 
looked  down  at  something  a  httle  to  their  right. 


294    AFRICAN  ADVENTURE  STORIES 

"I  knew  that  they  had  not  taken  fright  at 
me,  for  many  times  they  had  allowed  the  oxen 
to  pass  within  a  hmidred  yards  without  paying 
the  sKghtest  attention  to  the  team,  so  I  began 
to  search  for  the  cause  of  their  alarrii. 

"I  was  not  long  in  discovering  it,  for  suddenly 
a  lioness  appeared  among  the  rocks,  then  an- 
other and  another,  until,  in  all,  four  lionesses 
and  one  fine,  shaggy,  black-maned  lion  had 
come  into  view,  all  slowly  sauntering  out  of 
the  rocks  for  an  evening's  hunt.  Their  actions 
showed  plainly  that  they  had  seen  the  bullocks, 
for  every  few  seconds  one  or  another  of  them 
would  stop  and  gaze  at  us,  while  the  oxen, 
innocent  of  any  danger,  plodded  onward. 

"To  hurry  them  was  almost  certain  to  pro- 
voke an  attack,  especially  if  the  lions  were  in 
the  least  hungry,  so  I  simply  let  the  animals 
jog  along  at  their  leisure.  As  soon  as  the  lions 
emerged  from  the  rocks  they  followed  along 
parallel  with  me  but  a  little  behind  and  about 
three  hundred  yards  distant.  Although  they 
seemed  in  no  hurry,  they  were  slowly  overtaking 
the  team. 

"The  wind  was  blowing  from  them  toward 
me,  but  the  lions'  scent  had  been  carried  behind 


A  FIGHT  WITH  FIVE  LIONS     295 

the  oxen,  so  that  they  did  not  catch  it.  Sud- 
denly, however,  one  of  the  Honesses  crouched 
low  and  began  to  creep  toward  the  team  in 
true  catlike  fashion,  and  an  instant  later  a 
second  one  followed  her  example.  I  then  real- 
ised that  they  meant  trouble,  but  I  had  no  time 
to  reflect,  for  at  that  moment  one  of  the  oxen 
stopped  short,  threw  up  his  head,  and  sniffed 
the  air;  then,  getting  the  scent,  they  both  broke 
into  an  awkward,  swinging  shuffle  for  the 
kraal. 

"Over  the  rough,  uneven  ground  we  tore — 
bumpety-bump.  I  clung  to  the  stones  to  keep 
from  being  thrown  off  and  tightly  gripped  the 
big  bull-whip,  my  only  weapon  of  defence. 
There  was  no  use  in  trying  to  guide  or  control 
the  oxen;  in  fact,  I  had  no  idea  of  doing  so, 
even  if  I  could,  for  under  the  circumstances  they 
could  not  get  back  to  the  kraal  any  too  soon  to 
suit  me,  even  if  they  did  run  away.  All  that  I 
could  do  was  to  cling  to  the  stone-boat  and  await 
the  lions'  attack. 

"It  was  a  short  race.  Those  who  have  seen  a 
lion  capture  its  prey  know  too  well  what  little 
chance  there  would  be  for  a  runaway  team  of 
oxen  hitched  to  a  loaded  stone-boat. 


296    AFRICAN  ADVENTURE  STORIES 

"The  foremost  lioness  charged  from  right 
angles,  and  when  within  fifteen  feet  of  the  boat 
sprang  into  the  air  and  landed  squarely  on  the 
shoulders  of  the  near  bullock,  dug  her  hind 
claws  into  his  side,  threw  her  front  paws  over 
his  back,  and  buried  her  teeth  in  his  neck. 
The  poor  creature  went  to  the  ground  as  if 
shot  and,  rolling  over  on  his  side,  bawled  in 
the  most  pitiful  manner.  By  this  time  a  second 
lioness  had  rushed  in  from  behind,  and  I  turned 
just  as  she  was  about  to  spring — at  me,  to  all 
appearances;  but  she  leaped  clear  over  my 
head  and  landed  squarely  upon  the  back  of  the 
bullock  already  down. 

"The  fall  of  the  wounded  bullock  brought  the 
stone-boat  to  a  halt,  and  the  frantic  struggles 
of  its  frightened  companion  broke  the  yoke. 
Away  he  went  over  the  veldt  just  as  the  third 
lioness  came  charging  up.  She,  too,  was  coming 
straight  for  me;  but,  seeing  the  loose  ox  that 
had  veered  off,  she  changed  her  course  for  him, 
and  as  she  passed  me  not  ten  feet  away,  I 
brought  the  bull-whip  over  her  back  with  all  my 
force.  Without  altering  her  course  or  slacken- 
ing her  speed  in  the  least,  she  turned  her  head 
and  showed  her  contempt  by  snarling  as  she  shot 


A  FIGHT  WITH  FIVE  LIONS     297 

past.  A  second  more  and  she  had  overtaken 
her  prey  and  pulled  it  to  the  ground. 

"The  two  other  lionesses  had  killed  their 
bullock,  and  for  the  first  time  I  realised  that 
they  were  likely  at  any  moment  to  attack  me; 
so  I  jumped  from  the  stone-boat  and  bolted  for 
home  as  fast  as  I  could  run.  I  had  gone  but 
a  few  steps  when  I  looked  back  and  saw  the 
black  and  shaggy-maned  lion  coming  behind  at 
a  terrific  pace.  There  was  no  mistake  this  time; 
he  surely  was  after  me,  for  there  were  no  cattle 
in  the  line  of  his  charge. 

"It  was  useless  for  me  to  try  to  outrun  him, 
and  to  continue  would  only  give  him  courage. 
Realising  this,  I  turned  and  faced  the  brute, 
and  as  he  came  to  within  a  hundred  feet  of  me  I 
cracked  the  bull-whip  as  loud  as  I  could.  This 
had  the  effect  of  stopping  him  at  fifteen  paces 
from  me.  And  there  we  stood,  facing  each 
other  like  two  gladiators,  the  lion  lashing  his 
tail,  wrinkling  his  nose,  and  snarling,  while  I 
kept  cracking  the  whip  in  his  very  face  and 
backing  off  slowly. 

"The  big  cat  seemed  to  lack  the  courage  to 
follow  up  his  attack  but  stood  there  threatening 
me  until  I  had  gained   several  paces  on  him. 


298    AFRICAN  ADVENTURE  STORIES 

Then  he  crouched  low,  his  shoulder-blades  pro- 
truding above  his  back,  and  slunk  off  to  the 
right  in  an  effort  to  get  behind  me.  I  kept 
facing  him,  however,  and,  finding  himself  baffled, 
he  stood  for  a  second,  then  came  for  me  Uke  a 
shot,  growling  hoarsely,  his  jaws  wide  open. 

"At  the  very  instant  that  he  was  about  to 
spring  the  whip-lash  all  but  cut  him  in  the  face, 
which  again  brought  him  to  an  erect  position. 
Once  more  I  began  backing  toward  home,  and 
again  gained  several  yards  before  he  came  to  his 
full  senses.  He  was  getting  accustomed  to  the 
harmless  crack  of  the  bull-whip,  and  I  knew 
that  soon  it  would  have  no  effect  upon  him. 

"At  his  present  rate  of  progress  it  would  be 
but  a  few  minutes  before  he  would  get  within 
springing  distance,  and  if  once  he  sprang  at  me 
I  should  be  as  helpless  as  a  mouse  in  the  jaws  of 
a  cat. 

"I  was  debating  as  to  whether  I  should  make 
a  rush  at  him  in  an  attempt  to  intimidate  him 
when  I  heard  a  shot  from  behind  me.  The  lion 
fell  to  the  ground  mortally  wounded,  but  raised 
himself  upon  his  forefeet  and,  growling  sav- 
agely, began  to  bite  at  his  side. 

"Instantly  I  turned  to  run  and  saw  father. 


A  FIGHT  WITH  FIVE  LIONS     299 

some  three  hundred  yards  away,  spring  from  a 
kneeling  position,  snatch  from  the  ground  beside 
him  a  second  rifle,  and  start  toward  me.  We 
ran  for  each  other  at  the  top  of  our  speed,  and 
as  we  met  father  handed  me  a  rifle,  and  I  turned 
back  to  make  war  upon  my  enemies. 

"At  the  sound  of  the  shot  the  two  lionesses 
had  left  their  kill  and  were  slowly  sauntering 
off,  stopping  occasionally  to  look  back  at  us. 
The  other,  however,  was  still  tearing  away  at 
the  dead  bullock.  We  ran  up  to  within  a  hun- 
dred yards  of  her,  and  while  I  drew  bead  on 
her  father  began  shooting  at  the  two  farther 
away. 

"My  first  shot  went  wild,  but  as  the  lioness 
turned  to  run  I  caught  her  with  my  second  bul- 
let back  of  the  shoulders  but  too  high  to  be 
fatal.  Instantly  she  wheeled  and  came  for  us, 
grunting  and  growling  in  a  most  awe-inspiring 
manner.  Father  in  the  meantime  had  got  in  two 
shots  at  his  Honesses  and  had  wounded  one,  but, 
seeing  my  lioness  charging,  he  also  began  shoot- 
ing at  her.  The  bullets  seemed  to  have  no  effect 
whatever,  for  although  we  could  see  that  we 
were  hitting  her,  she  never  slackened  her  speed. 
On  she  came  until  within  about  sixty  yards. 


300    AFRICAN  ADVENTURE  STORIES 

when  she  slowed  down,  her  head  sank  to  the 
ground,  and  she  fell  dead. 

"Instantly  we  turned  our  rifles  upon  father's 
wounded  lioness.  She  was  more  than  three  hun- 
dred yards  away  by  this  time,  and  making  to- 
ward a  clump  of  thick  thorn-bushes.  Before  she 
reached  it,  however,  a  bullet  from  father's  rifle 
struck  her  in  the  hind  leg.  She  disappeared  in 
the  thicket,  badly  wounded. 

"The  back  of  the  black-maned  lion  had  been 
injured  by  the  first  shot  fired,  and  during  the 
fight  with  the  other  two  he  had  been  growling 
and  snarling  and  trying  hard  to  reach  us,  but 
we  saw  that  there  was  no  danger  to  be  feared 
from  him. 

"Father  suggested  that,  since  he  had  tried 
his  best  to  make  a  meal  of  me,  it  was  my  right 
to  finish  him;  so  I  advanced  to  close  range  and 
planted  a  ball  in  his  heart.  Even  then  it  was 
several  seconds  before  he  threw  up  his  head, 
gave  several  gasps,  and  fell  dead. 

"A  wounded  lion  in  a  bush  is  a  dangerous 
adversary,  even  in  broad  daylight,  and  in  the 
dusk  of  the  evening  a  man  would  be  foolhardy 
indeed  to  attack  one,  so  we  decided  to  let  that 
one  remain  until  morning. 


A  FIGHT  WITH  FIVE  LIONS     301 

"It  was  then  that  I  learned  how  father 
chanced  to  appear  on  the  scene  at  the  critical 
moment.  My  brother,  on  leaving  me,  instead 
of  going  directly  home,  had  stopped  at  the  edge 
of  the  rocks  to  rest.  He  had  seen  one  of  the 
lions  come  out  of  the  cliff  and  had  hurried 
home  to  give  the  alarm. 

"We  skinned  the  two  lions  that  night  and 
found  the  third  one  dead  in  the  thicket  the  fol- 
lowing morning.  Although  we  watched  at  the 
bullock  carcasses  that  afternoon  and  the  next 
morning,  hoping  that  the  lioness  that  we  had 
seen  escape,  as  well  as  the  fifth  one,  which,  dur- 
ing the  thick  of  the  fight,  I  had  lost  sight  of 
and  which  probably  went  back  into  the  rocks, 
might  return  to  the  body,  but  they  disappointed 
us.  We  were,  however,  quite  satisfied  with  three 
out  of  the  five." 


University  of  California 

SOUTHERN  REGIONAL  LIBRARY  FACILITY 

405  Hiigard  Avenue,  Los  Angeles,  CA  90024-1388 

Return  this  material  to  the  iitirary 

from  which  It  was  borrowed. 


THE 
WHITE  HOUSE 
S^FH\NCISC0 


U^« 

^   "  ^fl'  "S,!-  *"*     -^^1  '%'"5?%Wk, 


.?i 


a    i<^ 


l-i  a«ii. 


w 


